

















%}i 






















,* x 



H -*i 



,Oo. 






■- ^ 



C^ * k "> ,0' 



</' \\ 









oN 













^ 



#'% 











* o>' 















*3> V 



", *"*<& 



< 



o. * 



.# » c 






O0^ 






v 






.0 














H 



^ */■•;■ 






^0o. 






# •% 



«*' 



c^ y 












8 I 

















4< 



*> 



?"* 



- 



. <* ' ° ♦ * * A N 




<Cp .cV 






f 















HU>- 









A ' C > 



* a*' 







<V 



\ 



S - V ° . -a A .'i V . 






' 



* , o 






*£_ .V 



l> < 










W 



* 













<X X 



W 



^ ^ 







^^u^^^&^QMS^^ 



Skrtcfied on the sp>-t brJ.T.Barba: 



.1,/ii.Mit,:/ tr IKXdtatt. 



. dJwitem J^hlrre ?/ . 



A 

T O U 



THROUGHOUT 



SOUTH WALES 



AND 



MONMOUTHSHIRE. 



COMPREHENDING 

A GENERAL SURVEY 

OP THE 

PICTURESCtUE SCENERY, REMAINS OF ANTIQUITY, HISTORICAL 

EVENTS, PECULIAR MANNERS, AND COMMERCIAL SITUATIONS, 

©F THAT INTERESTING PORTION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



By J. T. BARBER, F.S.A. 



ILLUSTRATED "WITH A MAP AND TWENTY VIEWS, ENGRAVE© 
FROM DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR, 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY J, NICHOLS AND SON, RED LION PASSAGE, 
FLEET STREET^ 

FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVJES, STRAND. 



1803* 



.• - • • • 



•ox 



( Si ) 

To RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN, Esq. M.P. 

SIR, 

HIGHLY admiring thai " transcendant 
genius and ability which renders you conspi- 
cuous among the foremost characters of the 
age ; nor less venerating that manly inde- 
pendence which has dignified your political 
career, even under circumstances the most 
trying; it must be my regret, in dedicating 
this Work to you, that it is not more suitable to 
the rank of merit to which it is inscribed. 

I am., SIR, 

With great respect, 

Your most obedient Servant 9 

f T\ BARBER. 



Sputhum pton-slreet . Strand, 
London, Feb. 15, 1S03, 



/3 



( v ) 



ADVERTISEMENT, 



THE intention of this Work is, to point 
out and describe such objects as command 
general interest throughout the country. — 
The usual plan of Tours only comprising 
a particular route, unless that precise line 
be retraced, a Tourist is obliged to encum- 
ber himself with several books, to enable 
him to gain all the information that he 
requires. The Author has felt this in- 
convenience in several excursions through 
Great Britain ; and has therefore selected 
from the best authorities an account of those 
few parts which he had not an opportunity of 
visiting; in order that this Work may ex- 
hibit a general survey of Southern Cambria. 



a 3 



( vii ) 



CONTENTS, 



INTRODUCTION. 

General Observations— A Sketch of Welch History — 
Ancient. Buildings - 



Page 



CHAP. I. 

Voyage from Bristol to Swansea— -Swansea Castle- 
Manufactories — Welch Bathing — Ostermouth — Pen- 
rice; and Pennarth Castles — Seat of Mr. Talbot — 
Arthur's Stone, a large Cromlech - 14 

CHAP. II. 

Loughor — Llanelly — Pembree-hill — Kidwelly, and its 
Castle - - - - 31 

CHAP. III. 

Caermarthen — Female Labourers — Llanstephan Castle— 
A Ford — Laugharne Castle — Fine Marine Views — 
New Inn — Tenby - - - 36 

CHAP. IV. 

Manorbeer Castle — An Adventure — A Dilemma — Ca- 
rew Castle — Lawrenny — Pembroke — Its Castle — 
Lamphey Court — Stackpole Court — Bosherston 
Meer • ... „ - 48 

a 4 CHAP. 



vlli CONTENTS. 

Page 
CHAP. V. 

Little England beyond Wales — Milford-haven— Welch 
Beauties — Haverfordwest Fair— The Town, Castle, 
and Priory — Picton Castle — Hubberston — Milford 68 

CHAP. VI. 

Journey over the Precelly Mountain to Cardigan — Ex- 
tensive Prospect — Cardigan — St. Dogmael's Priory 
— Another Route from Haverfordwest to Cardigan, 
by St. David's — The Cathedral of St. David's — 
Grand Ruins of its Palace— A Loggan, or Rocking 
Stone — Ramsay Island — Fishguard — Newport — 
Kilgarran Castle— Salmon Leap — Newcastle 81 

CHAP. VII. 

Llanarth — Aberaeron — Llansansfried — Llanrhystid— 
An Enquiry into a strange asserted Custom relating 
to the Mode of Courtship in Wales — Llanbadarn-vawr 
** Aberistwyth, and its Castle - "97 

CHAP. VIII. 

Barrier of North and South Wales — The Devil's Bridge 
—Grand Cataract of the Mynach — Cwra Ystwith 
Hills — Hafod — Ancient Encampments — Starflour 
Abbey — Tregarron— -Roman Antiquities at Llan- 
dewi Brevi — Lampeter — Llansawel — Edwin's Ford 
— Llandilo - - - - -lie 

CHAP. IX. 

Charming Vale of Towey— Dinevawr Castle—Golden 
Grove — Grongar Hill— Middleton Hall — Careg- . 

cannon 



CO NTENTS, ix 

Page 
cannon Castle— Reflections at a Ford — Glenheir Wa- 
terfall — An Accident— Pont ar Dulas — Return to 
Swansea - - - j- * 128 

CHAP. X. 

Neath Abbey, Town, and Castle— The Knoll— Briton 
Ferry— Funereal Rites — Aberavon — Margam — Ab- 
bey Ruin — Pile - * - 145 

CHAP. XL 

Ogmore Castle — Ewenny Priory— Dunraven House — 
St. Donatt's Castle — Llanbithian Castle — Cow- 
bridge — Penline Castle — Coity Castle — Llantrissent 
— Benighted Ramble to Pont-y-Pridd — Water-falls 158 

CHAP. XII. 

Scenery of the TafTe — Stupendous Ruins of Caerphilly 
Castle — The Leaning Tower — Fine View from 
Thornhill — Cardiff Castle — Ecclesiastical Decay of 
Landaff— The Cathedral - ~ - fjz 

CHAP. XIII. 

Entrance of Monmouthshire — Ancient Encampments — 
Castleton — Tredegar Park — Newport — Church and 
Castle — Excursion to JVIachen Place — Picturesque 
View from Christ Church— Gold Cliff— Caerleon's 
Antiquities — Encampments— Lord Herbert of Cher- 
bury — Lantarnam — Langibby Castle - 185 

CHAP. XIV. 

Usk— Castle and Church — Excursion to Raglan — Ele- 
gant Ruins of Raglan Castle— Views from the De- 
vaudon — Roman Antiquities at Caerwent — Tesse- 
lated Pavement - 208 

CHAP. 



s CONTENTS. 

Page 
CHAP. XV. 

Wentwood Forest—Excursion to the Castles of Din- 
ham -j Lanvair ; Striguil ; Pencoed ; and Penhow — 
comprising extensive Views from the Pencamawr, 
&c.— Caldecot Castle — A Tale of other Times— New 
Passage — Sudbrook Encampment — and Chapel — St. 
Pierre — Mathern Palace — Moinscourt - - 227 

CHAP. XVI. 

Chepstow — Fine Scenery of its Vicinage—The Castle — 
Church, and Bridge — Piercefield — Character of the 
late Mr. Morris - - 246 

CHAP. XVII. 

Tmtern Abbey — Iron Works — Scenery of the Wye to 
Monmouth — Old Tintern — Brook's Weir — Landago 
— Redbrook - - 26$ 



CHAP. XVIII. 

Monmouth — Church. Priory, and Castle — The Kymin 
— Wonastow House — Treowen — Troy House — Tre- 
lech — Perthir — Newcastle — Scren frith Castle — 
Grossmont Castle — John of Kent - - 279 

CHAP. XIX. 

Abbey of Grace- dieu — Sir David Gam — White Castle — 
Abergavenny Hills — The Town, Castle, and Church 300 

CHAP. XX. 

Werndee— Family Pride— Lanthony Abbey— Old Castle 312 

CHAP. XXT. 

Re -entrance of South Wales — Crickhowell — Tretower 
— Brecon Castle.and Priory— Road to Llandovery — • 
Trecastle — Pass of Cwm-dur — Llandovery Castle — . 

Road 



CONTENTS. xi 

Page 
Road from Brecon to Hereford — Brunlyss Castle — 
Female Vengeance — Hay— -Clifford Castle $2$ 

C H A P. XXII. 

!Bualt — Prince Llewelyn — Rhayder-gowy — Caractacus's 
Camp — Offa's Dyke — Knighton — Presteign — Old and. 
New Radnor — Llandrindod Wells - - $55 

CHAP. XXIII. 

Goodrich Castle and Priory— Wilton Castle — Scenery of 
the Wye from Ross to Monmouth— Ross — Glou- 
cester - - - 347 



ERRATA. 

Tag& 66j for Lamphey Castle., read Lamphey Court* 
68 and 80, for Habberston, read Hubberston, 
98, after horizon, read the sea. 
iji, zb the note, for Drushvyn, read Gruslwyn, 



( xiii ) 

DIRECTIONS for the PLATES. 

Tintern Abbey to face the Title Page. 

»■ The Map - before the Introduction. 

Kidwelly Castle - to face page 34 

Llanstephan Castle - - - 41 

Manorbeer Castle 48 

Carew Castle - - - 61 

Pembroke Castle - 65 

St. Dogmael's Priory - - 86 

Kilgarran Castle - - '93 

The Devil's Bridge - - - 111 

Falls of the Mynach - - 114 

Dinevawr Castle - - - 128 

Careg-cannon Castle - - - 138 

Margam Abbey - - - 153 

Caerphilly Castle - - - 174 

Raglan Castle - - - - 213 

Chepstow Castle - 247 

View from Piercerield - - 260 

. View on the Wye - - - 277 

Lanthony Abbey ... 315 

Goodrich Castle - - - 348 



b 




it'ccU f--u'[p. S>rcm2. 



A TOUR 



OF 



South wales and Monmouthshire, 



INTRODUCTION* 



(JENERAL OBSERVATIONS A SKETCH OP 

WELCH HISTORY ANCIENT BUILDINGS, 

SECT. I* 

IN making the Tour of South Wales and 
Monmouthshire, the Admirer of picturesque 
beauty dwells with peculiar pleasure on a 
tract of country comprising the greater part 
of Monmouthshire, and bordering the Severn 
and Bristol channel, to the western limits of 
Pembrokeshire. In this enchanting district, 
a succession of bold hills, clothed with wild 
forests, or ornamental plantations and delight- 
ful valleys, present themselves in constant va- 

b riety: 



12 INTRODUCTION, 

riety : many line estuaries and rivers, jpio 
turesque towns, and princely ruins, also 
adorn the scene, whose charms are incon- 
ceivably heightened by the contiguity of the 
Bristol channel, which washes the coast ; in 
some places receding into capacious bays ; in 
others, advancing into rocky promontories of 
the most imposing grandeur. 

The Statistical Enquirer finds equal subject 
of gratification, in the uncommon fertility of 
several valleys, and the woody treasures of 
numerous hills, bearing myriads of oaks, and 
other first-rate timber-trees. The mineral 
wealth of the country, and its convenient 
coast for traffic, are likewise subjects of high 
consideration; and, while the statist applauds- 
the late rapid strides of manufactures and 
commerce in this district., he may discover 
sources hitherto latent for their increase. 

Thellistorian-cannot foil of being interested 
while treading on the ground where Britons 
made their latest and most vigorous efforts for> 
independence, against successive invaders; 
nor the Antiquary, while traversing a coun- 
try replete with Monuments of the Druidical 
ages; military works of the Romans, Britons, 

Saxons, 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

Saxons, and Normans ; and the venerable 
relics of numerous religious foundations. 

Beyond this stripe of country, from ten to 
twenty miles in width, forming the southern 
extremity of Wales, and an intermixture of 
rich scenery (particularly in the neighbour- 
hood of Brecon), with prevailing dreariness 
on the eastern frontier, South-Wales exhibits 
a tedious extent of hills without majesty, 
valleys over-run with peat bogs, and unpro- 
fitable moors. Beside the superb ruins of St. 
David's, the course of the Tivy near Cardi- 
gan,, and the scenery about the Devil's 
Bridge, it has little to entice the attention of 
the tourist : the towns, for the most part, are 
miserably poor, and travelling accommoda- 
tions very uncertain ; the roads, too, are 
wretched beyond any thing that a mere 
English traveller ever witnessed. It is, there- 
fore, a subject of no small gratification, that 
the chief beauties of South- Wales are found 
in a compact route ; abounding with good 
towns, respectable accommodations, and very 
fair roads. This part of the country may be 
explored in a close carriage, though the bet- 
ter mode of travelling is, certainly, on horse- 
back. The pedestrian may claim peculiar 
£ 2 advantages 



4 INTRODUCTION'. 

advantages in his way of getting on ; but i 
do not conceive, that a man enduring the fa- 
tigue of trudging day after day through miry 
roads, can maintain an exhilaration of spirits 
congenial with the beauties that surround 
him. 

SECT. II. 

The geographical situation and present li- 
mits of Wales are unnecessary to be here de- 
scribed. Of its history, the first certain ac- 
counts that we collect are on the invasion of 
the Romans, when Yv r ales appears to have 
been divided into three principalities : the 
Silures, the Ordovices, and the Dimitae. The 
Silures possessed all that tract of country 
bounded by the Severn, the Tame, and the 
Towey ; which, comprehending the counties 
of Monmouth, Glamorgan, Brecknock, Rad- 
nor, Hereford, and part of Gloucester Wor- 
cester, and Cacrmarthen shires, comprised the 
greater part of South-Wares. The Dimita? 
inhabited that part of South- Wales westward 
of the Towey; and the Ordovices, North- 
Wales, including Auglesea. 

The Romans having subdued Britannia 
'Prima, i, e. the Southern part of England, 

advanced 



INTRODUCTION. Z> 

advanced to the conquest of 'Wales, by them 
denominated Britannia Secunda ; in this, 
jhowever, they met with an unlooked-for op- 
position ; the inhabitants were vigorous and 
brave ; and the country, wildly piled toge- 
ther with mountains, forest?, and morasses, 
presented an aggregation of difficulties, that 
would have discouraged a people less ardent 
in their enterprizes : nor did they succeed, 
until after a long warfare and a severe loss. 
The Silures and Dimitae fell under the yoke 
in the reign of Vespasian, when they were 
vanquished by Julius Frontinus. The Ordo- 
vices were not finally subdued until the time 
of his successor, Agricola y who, according to 
Tacitus, exterminated the whole nation. 

The Romans retained possession of this 
country until A. D. 408, when they with- 
drew their legions, and the most warlike of 
the British youth, for the defence of their 
central dominions. The inroads of the Scots 
and Pict?, which immediately followed, do 
not appear to have materially affected the 
Welch ; nor did the Saxons, though at con- 
stant war with them for several centuries, ac- 
quire any- settled dominion in the country: 
yet they more than once partially overran 
b 3 Wales, 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

Wales, obliging it to pay tribute ; and in the 
veign of Edward the confessor, Harold, at the 
head of a great army, entering Wales, de- 
feated Prince Griffith, sovereign of North- 
Wales, and, establishing himself in Gwent* 
(Monmouthshire), began a Palace at Ports- 
wit, which was, however, destroyed by Grif- 
fith before its completion. 

From the departure of the Romans in 408, 
to the inroads of the Anglo-Norman chief- 
tains in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, 
Wales was divided into numerous petty so- 
vereignties or lordships, of varying name and 
extent, but tributary to an imperial Prince ; 
though sometimes that dignity was split into 
two or three branches. These chiefs were 
usually at war with each other, or with their 
Princes, who seldom obtained tribute when 
their means of enforcing it was questionable. 

The Anglo-Norman dominion in Wales was 
brought about in a manner wholly different 
from former conquests. William the First 
and his successors, finding sufficient employ- 
ment in securing their English possessions, 
invited their chiefs, holding lands in the 

* The Saxons at this period are supposed to have occupied 
Monmouth, Chepstow, Caerwent, and Caerleon. 

neighbourhood 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

neighbourhood of Wales, to make incursions 



i » j 



against the Welch lords, upon their separate 
interests. The Norman leaders thereupon, 
by creating feuds among the native powers, 
siding with one or the other party, and 
breaking with them on convenient oppor- 
tunities, contrived to fix themselves in various 
parts of Wales ; whence their conquests ex- 
tending, by degrees, overspread the greater 
part of the country. The lands thus obtained 
became the property of the conquerors, who, 
under the title of lords marchers, were al- 
lowed to exercise an uncontrolled jurisdiction 
within their demesnes: but power acquired 
on such principles could only be retained by 
force ; every petty despot secured himself in 
a fortress, and hence arose the extraordinary 
number of castles with which Wales is 
crowded, amounting, according to a native 
author*, to 143. The Welch princes still 
held a considerable tract of country, fre- 
quently overthrew the intruders, and even 
carried their arms into England ; but in the 
defeat of the brave Llewelyn, by Edward the 
First, Wales lost every remnant of its indepen- 

* Mr. Pennant. 

£ 4* dence, 



S INTRODUCTION. 

dence, and became definitively united to the 
crown of England. 

In the reign of Henry the Eighth Wales 
was divided into twelve shires, and Monr 
mouthshire w r as included among the English 
counties ; the feudal despotism of the lords?, 
marchers was then abolished; and Wales, 
participating in the equal shelter of English 
jurisprudence, has proved itself as zealous in 
defending the common interests of the em- 
pire, as it was formerly conspicuous in Strugs 
gling for its particular freedom, 

SECT, III, 

Among the numerous memorials of history 
and antiquity which distinguish Wales, 
castles and religious buildings possess the 
chief claim to attention ; and, as Wales is an 
admirable field for the study of the civil and 
military architecture that prevailed in the 
middle ages, I shall give a slight sketch of 
the progress of those arts, so far as it seems, 
applicable to the present purpose. 

On the overthrow of the Romans by the 
Goths and Vandals, the arts vanished before 
the scourge of war ; and the standard mode 
of architecture which adorned the Greek and 

Roma*} 



INTRODUCTION. S 

Stoman' empires could no longer be exe- 
cuted in its original : perfection. The ge- 
neral forms, indeed, were imitated, but with- 
out an observance of symmetry : the execu- 
tion was rough and clumsy ; the pillars were 
excessively thick, and the arches heavy; 
and where ornament was attempted the 
performance was very uncouth. Such was 
the state of architecture (a mere corruption of 
the Roman) that succeeded the devastations 
of the Goths, and has been called Saxon and 
Norman : the term Gothic, however, would 
certainly be more appropriate. 

At the beginning of the twelfth century, 
a new style of architecture made its appear- 
ance, distinguished by pointed arches and, 
flustered columns *. Though at first coldly 

received, 

* The common appellation of this mode, Gothic, is equally 
improper with the preceding, as the reign of the Goths was 
at an end long before its introduction : indeed its origin is 
wrapped in obscurity. Sir Christopher Wren, and after him 
many architects and antiquaries, have attributed it to the Sa- 
racens, and hence called it Saracenic ; but. their grounds are 
very questionable. Perhaps the homely conjecture, that it 
arose from the pointed form in the intersecting Saxon arches, 
may be as near the truth as one derived from more laborious 
researches ; indeed, from the specimens of early Gothic 
which I have seen, I am of opinion, that cogent reasorjs may 

be 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

received, and but sparingly introduced among* 
the rounded arches and massive columns 
called Saxon, it soon gained an undisputed 
footing. 

About the latter end of the reign of Henry 
the Third, we find it acquire a more orna- 
mental and distinct character. The pillars, 
which before were round, and encircled with 
slender detached shafts, were then formed in 
entire reeded columns ; the arched roofs also, 
which only exhibited the main springers, 
then became intersected with numerous ra- 
mifications and transomes. The decorations 
continued to increase until toward the close 
of Henry the Eighth's reign, when the light 
of science again dawned over Europe, and 
the relics of Greece and Rome were rightly 
considered as models of genuine taste ; the 
classic elegance of the five Orders then ap- 
peared, intermixed with the Gothic; it soon 
became universal, and is now adopted in all 
superior buildings throughout Europe. Fur- 
ther characteristics of style might be pointed 

be adduced, to prove it rather to be of natural growth from 
the Saxon modes, and formed in its characteristics by gra- 
dual alteration, than a new system of remote and detached 



out, 



INTRODUCTION. II 

&ut, and lesser variations defined : but I do 
not presume to inform the antiquary; and the 
distinctions already drawn will be sufficient 
for the cursory tourist. 

Castles appear of no generally chosen figure, 
except such as were founded by the Romans, 
who preferred that of an oblong square, un- 
less there were special reasons to the contrary. 
Small castles consisted of a single court, or 
ward, whose sides were usually flanked by 
towers. The great hall, chapel, and domestic 
apartments, built from the outer wall into 
the court, occupied one or more sides. The 
citadel, called also the Keep and Dungeon, 
was a tower of eminent strength, wherein the 
Garrison made their last stand, and where 
prisoners were sometimes confined : the ci- 
tadel was often detached from the walls, and 
built on an artificial mound encircled with a 
ditch. The barracks for the soldiers in gar- 
rison was generally a range of building near 
the gatehouse, or principal entrance. The 
latter building contained apartments for the 
Officers of the castle, and the portal was fur- 
nished with one, two, or three portcullisses*. 

* An iron grate, with spikes at the bottom, which was 
hi down after the gate was forced. 

A wet 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

A wet or dry moat surrounded the whale j 
and, advanced before the drawbridge that 
crossed it, there was often an outwork called 
a barbican. Large castles were only a repe- 
tition of these courts upon somewhat of a 
larger scale, connected with each other 
(Chepstow castle consists of four). In- for- 
tresses of the first class, an extensive embattled 
wall sometimes encircled the mass of fortifi- 
cation already described, at some distance, 
inclosing a considerable tract of ground, as at 
Caerphilly in Glamorganshire*. Castle walk 
.appear in some instances built of solid ma- 
sonry ; but their general construction is of 
grout work. For this purpose, two slight 
walls were built parallel, from six to twelve 
feet asunder; the interval was then filled 
up with loose stones and rubbish, and the 

* Several years ago, -when I first set about castle-hunting, 
I endeavoured in vain to discover a relation between what I 
saw, and the description with a figure of an ancient castle, 
laid down in Grose's Antiquities, and copied by others. I 
nave since seen the greater part of the principal ruins in 
8outh-Britain j and the only castles that occur to me as ap- 
proaching to that gentleman's plan, are those of Dover and 
London. I mention this, because persons building a theory 
on the authorities above-mentioned, might, among ruins, be 
puzzled, to nopurposej for a practical illustration. 

whole 



IKTHODUCTIO^ 13 

whole cemented together with a great quan- 
tity of fluid (according to some authors 
boiling) mortar : the mass soon acquired a 
sufficient firmness, and in the present day 
it possesses the adhesion of solid rock. This 
method was used by the Romans, and adopt- 
ed by succeeding ages ; but the arches were 
turned, and the angles coigned with hewn 
stones, which, after the Conquest, were 
brought from Caen in Normandy* 



CHAP, 



L M 3 



C H A P. 'I. 



Voyage from Bristol to Swansea— 
swansea castle—- -manufactories- 
welch bathing — ostermouth, pen- 
rice, and pennarth castles — -seat 

of mr. talbot arthur's stone, a 

large cromlech. 

IN company with a brother artist, I en- 
tered Bristol with an intention of com- 
mencing my Cambrian tour in the neigh- 
bourhood of Chepstow ; but an un thought- 
of attraction induced us to relinquish this 
project. 

Returning from a ramble through the town, 
by the quay,, we were agreeably amused 
with a fleet of vessels that was about to quit 
the river with the ebbing tide ; some of them 
were already in full sail floating down the 
stream, and others getting under weigh * 
The spirited exertions of the seamen, and the 
anxious movements of numerous spectators, 

devoting 



CHAP. I. ST. VINCENT S ROCKS. Ii> 

devoting their attention to friends or freight* 
gave animation to the scene, which was ren- 
dered particularly cheerful by the delightful 
state of the morning. On a sudden we were 
saluted with a duet of French-horns from a 
small sloop in the river ; a very indifferent 
performance to be sure, yet it was pleasing, 
This sloop was bound to Swansea ; and w r e 
learned that the wind was so directly favour- 
able, that the voyage would in all probability 
be completed the same afternoon. We were 
now strongly disposed for an aquatic excur- 
sion ; nor did the laughing broad faces of 
about a dozen Welch girls, passengers, alarm 
us from our purpose : so by an exertion we 
collected our portmanteaus and some refresh- 
ments in due time, and engaged in the 
voyage. 

Leaving Bristol, and its romantic but ruined 
suburb Clifton, we entered upon the re- 
markable scenery of St. Vincent's Rocks, 
A bolder pass than is here formed I scarcely 
remember to haye seen, even in the most 
mountainous parts of Great Britain : on one 
side, a huge rock rises in naked majesty per- 
pendicularly from the river, to the height of 
some hundred feet ; the immense surface is 

tinted 



Ifr KING'S WESTON HILL. CHAP, f) 

tinted with the various hues of grey, red, and 
yellow, and diversified by a few patches of 
shrubs, moss, and creeping lichens. A range 
of rocks equal in magnitude, but of less pre- 
cipitous ascent, clothed with dark wild forest 
trees and underwood, forms the opposite 
boundary of. the river ; attempering the me- 
nacing aspect of impendent cliffs, with the 
softer features of sylvan hills. 

The grandeur of the river's banks dimi- 
nishes until, near the Avon's junction with 
the Severn ; when the commanding height 
of Kings wcston-hill, adorned with the groves,- 
lawns, and plantations of Lord Clifford's parky 
rises conspicuously eminent, and engages a 
parting interest. We soon entered the Se-* 
vern, here an expansive estuary, and so far a 
noble object; but deriving little importance 
from its shores, which, except in the neigh- 
bourhood of Aust, arc a mere undulation of 
corn-fields and pastures. The display of cul* 
tivation, though gratifying, is certainly infe- 
rior in picturesque merit to the grand features 
of. cliffs and mountains which distinguish the 
si i ores of Pe m b r o k e s h i r f , and the western 
coast of Wales* . 
i For 



CHAP. I. VOYAGE TO SWANSEA, 17 

For some time we were well entertained 
with our voyage ; when satisfied with ex- 
ternal objects, we found amusement in the 
cooped-up circle of our companions, and en- 
tered upon a general meal, without the as- 
sistance of knives or plates, with much good 
humour : nor was there a lack of wit, if we 
might judge from the continued bursts of 
laughter that sallied on the occasion. But the 
scene presently changed : the wind, at first 
so favourable, shifted to the opposite point, 
increasing from a pleasant breeze to a fresh 
gale; the 1 sun no longer played on the sur- 
face of the water ; the sky became overcast ; 
and " the waves curled darkly against the 
vessel. " From the seamen, with looks of 
disappointment, we learned, that the prospect 
of a short voyage was at an end; and that, if 
the wind continued as it was, we might be 
kept at sea for several days : the badness of 
the weather increased towards evening, when 
a deluging rain came down, and continued 
the whole night. This calamity was further 
aggravated by a noisy bid woman on board, 
who grated our ears with a horrible scream 
whenever a wave broke over the vessel, or a 
flash of lightning illuminated the scenery of 
c the 



IS VOYAGE TO SWANSEA* CHAP. I, 

the storm ; filling up the intervals with the 
cheering narrative of ships that were lost in 
the very track of our voyage. It was to no 
purpose that we endeavoured to joke away 
lier fears, or to make them less eloquent ; 
but Time, that great resolver of difficulties, 
transferring the disorder of her imagination to 
her stomach, quieted her alarm. At length 
the increasing rain forced every one for shelter 
towards the cabin : this was a hole about two 
yards by one and a half; not quite the latter 
dimension in height, and filthy to a degree 
that I shall not attempt to describe : into this 
place as many were squeezed as it could pos- 
sibly contain. 

Among our female companions were two 
genteel young Welch-women of considerable 
personal attractions, whose vivacity and good- 
nature had essentially contributed to the en- 
tertainment of the day : one of these was pe- 
culiarly bewitching ; her's was 



the faultless form 



Shap'd by the hand of harmony ; the cheek 
Where the live crimson , through the native white 
Soft-shooting, o'er the face diffuses bloom, 
And ev'ry -nameless grace ; the parted lip, 
kike the red rose-bud moist with morning dew, 

Breathing 



CHAP. I. VOYAGE TO SWANSEA. 19 

Breathing delight ; and, under flowing jet, 

The neck slight-shaded, and the swelling breast j 

The look resistless, piercing to the soul. 

These damsels preferring the certainty of 
a wetting upon deck to the chance of suffo- 
cation in the cabin, we made it our business 
to defend them as much as possible from 
" the pelting of the pitiless storm." Our 
travelling coats were fashionably large; so 
that each of us was able completely to shelter 
one, without exposing ourselves; a bottle of 
brandy too, that we had fortunately provided, 
helped to counteract the inclemency of the 
weather, and we were for some time tho- 
roughly comfortable. The rain at length, 
penetrating our coverings, obliged us to seek 
a fresh resource ; but to discover one was no 
easy matter; for the cabin had not a chink 
unoccupied, and there was not a dry sail on 
board to make use of. In this predicament 
it fortunately occurred to one of the ladies, 
that before the hatchway was closed she ob- 
served sufficient room in the hold for three or 
four persons who were not very bulky to lie 
down : to this place we gained admittance ; 
and, although the angles of chests and pack- 
ages formed a very inappropriate couch for 
c 2 the 



20 VOYAGE TO SWANSEA. CHAP. I. 

the tender limbs of our friends, yet the re- 
treat proved highly gratifying ; and, after a 
short time spent in pleasing conversation, we 
enjoyed a refreshing sleep. — Unhallowed 
thoughts, be silent ! voluptuous imaginations, 
conjure not up, from this pressure of circum- 
stances, motives or actions that are unholy ! 
It is true, the girls had charms that might 
warm an anchorite, and were filled with the 
glowing sensations of youthful passion ; yet 
they were virtuous ; nor had the tourists, al- 
though encountering temptation, a wish to 
endanger the possessors of qualities so lovely 
for a transitory enjoyment. 

When we issued from our burrow the next 
morning, therain continued; but the wind had 
abated., and become more favourable. The 
oilier passengers remained in the cabin, and 
nothing can be imagined more distressing than 
their situation. No less than ten women had 
squeezed themselves into the hole, where 
they lay all of a heap, like fish in a basket. 
The heat and confinement had rendered the 
sickness general: I shall forbear to describe 
the evidence of its effects; but briefly remark, 
that, overcome by pain and fatigue, they ap- 
peared all in a sound sleep, half released 

from 



CHAP. I. SWANSEA BAY. 21 

from their clothes, and with such an inter- 
mixture of heads, bodies, and limbs, that it 
required some ingenuity to trace the relation 
of the several parts. The two old French- 
horn players were lying at the door soaking 
in the rain, but also asleep. From such a 
scene we gladly withdrew, and in a few 
hours found ourselves at the entrance of 
Swansea Bay, finely encircled with high 
varied hills; on our left were the two insu- 
lated rocks called the Mumbles, at a small 
distance from the main land, where the 
whitened town of Ostermouth* appeared 
issuing from the water, beneath a lofty dark 
hill. At the bottom of the bay, the superior 
extent of Swansea lined the shore, backed by 
an atmosphere of cloudy vapours produced 
from the numerous furnaces in its neighbour- 
hood. At length I trod on Cambrian ground, 
and paid my half crown, with a willing en- 
gagement to forfeit a hundred times the sum, 

* The practice of whitening their dwellings, in Wales, is 
very general, and of long standing. David ap Gwillim, a 
bard of the 14th century, thus notices it in his invocation to 
Summer : " With sun-shine morn gladden thou the place, 
and greet the whitened houses." 

c 3 if 



22 SWANSEA CASTLE. CHAP. I. 

if ever I should be again caught on board of a 
Swansea Hoy *. 

Swansea is a tolerably neat town, although 
irregularly built. It has long been a winter 
residence of the neighbouring gentry, and a 
favourite resort in summer for bathing; but 
its increasing opulence arises principally from 
the prosperity of its manufactures and com- 
merce. 

In company with Major Jones, a worthy 
magistrate of the town, to whose polite at- 
tention I stand indebted for much local in- 
formation, I obtained a complete survey of 
Swansea Castle, (situated in the middle 
of the town), which, although much con- 
tracted from its former grand dimensions, 
is still of considerable extent. The principal 
feature of the building is, a massive quadran- 
gular tower, remarkable for a range of light 
circular arches, encircling the top, and sup- 

* Of the numerous vessels that sail from Bristol to Swan- 
sea, not one is fitted for passengers, and it was our misfor- 
tune to enter the worst in the service : we afterwards learned, 
that two superior vessels, Dimond and Hawkins masters, 
afford very tolerable accommodation. The sailing of these 
might be learned from a correspondence at Bristol, and a 
pleasant conveyance obtained,— at least for men. 

porting 



CHAP. I. SWANSEA CASTLE. 23 

porting a parapet, which forms a connexion 
with turrets at each angle. This parapet af- 
fords a pleasing bird's-eye view of the town 
and surrounding country. The tenantable 
parts of the castle comprise the town-hall ; a 
poor-house ; a jail ; a new market-house ; 
numerous store-cellars ; a blacksmith's and 
other shops and habitations ; a Roman Ca- 
tholic chapel ; and a pigeon-house. The 
Gothic structure has been so far metamor- 
phosed in its application to these purposes, 
that it is almost impossible to trace the origi- 
nal plan of the building ; but the large apart- 
ment used for Romish worship has been ei- 
ther the baronial hall or the chapel : I think, 
the former. 

During my stay in Swansea, an intoxicated 
man fell asleep on the parapet of the castle, 
and, rolling off, fell to the ground at the 
depth of near 80 feet. The poor fellow was 
a servant in the castle : and, missing his 
room in winding up the turreted stair-case, 
unconsciously extended his journey to the 
summit of the castle. Nothing broke his fall 
(unless the roof of a low shed reared against 
the wall, and which he went clearly through, 
c 4 may 



24 TOWN OF SWANSEA. CHAP. I. 

may be considered as a favourable impedi- 
ment), and yet, incredible as it may seem ! 
the only effect produced on the man, was a 
slight broken head, and a restoration of his 
faculties. He bound up his head himself, 
made the best of his way to a public-house, 
took a little more ale, and then went soberly 
to bed. I should scarcely have believed this 
miraculous escape, had I not seen the broken 
tiles and rafters through which he fell, and 
heard the attestations of numerous witnesses 
of the accident. 

Swansea Castle was built A. D. 1113, by 
Henry Beaumont, Earl of Warwick, a Norman 
leader who conquered Gowerland, a tract of 
country bounded by the Neath and Loughor 
rivers, from the Welch ; but it was soon after 
besieged by Griffith ap Rhys ap Theodore, a 
native chief, and a great part of the out- 
buildings destroyed, It is now the property 
of the Duke of Beaufort, Lord paramount of 
Gower. 

A large tract of country northward of 
Swansea is covered with coal, copper, and 
iron- works, the operations of which are much 
facilitated by a canal passing among them. 
The dismal gloom of the manufactories, 

hanging 



CHAP. I. MORRISTOWN. 25 

hanging over the river Tawe, is pleasingly 
contrasted by the whitened walls of their ap- 
pendant villages, springing from the dark 
sides of the hills that rise above the river. 
Conspicuous above the other resorts of the 
manufacturers is Morristown, a neat newly- 
created village ; and on the summit of a steep 
hill Morristown castle, a quadrangular build* 
ing, which is the habitation of upwards of 
thirty families; these buildings owe their 
origin to Mr. Morris, a gentleman, who, in 
partnership with Mr. Lockwood, conducts 
one of the leading works. The introduction 
of Major Jones obtained me a view of Messrs. 
Freeman's copper manufactory : we took 
care to be there at noon, when the furnaces 
are tapped and all the interesting processes 
gone through. The effect in passing through 
these dismal buildings, contrasted by the vivid 
glare of the furnaces, and the liquid fire of 
the pouring metal, is to a stranger very 
striking. I was much surprized at the quan- 
tity of condensed sulphureous vapour that 
yellowed the roof of the building. Sulphur 
often forms the greatest bulk of the ore ; yet 
*fio means are employed to collect the vapour, 

which 



c 26 COPPER-WOKKS. CHAP. I. 

which might easily be managed, and could 
not fail of turning to a source of profit : at 
the same time, it would save the health of 
the workmen, and spare the vegetation, 
which appears stinted for a considerable dis- 
stance by the noxious effluvia. 

We left these sulphureous chambers to en- 
joy a purer air on the sea-shore, where ano- 
ther curiosity awaited us. As we were stroll- 
ing on the sands, about a mile above the 
town, we remarked a group of figures, iri 
birth-day attire, gamboling in the water : 
not suspecting that they were women, we 
passed carelessly on ; but how great was our 
surprize, on approaching them, to find that 
the fact did not admit 'of a doubt. We had 
not paused a minute, before they all came 
running toward us, with a menacing tone 
and countenance, that would seem to order 
us away. Though we did not understand 
their British sentences, we obeyed, and very 
hastily too, on finding a volley of stones 
rattling about our ears. This hostile demon- 
stration, we afterwards found, arose from a 
suspicion that we were going to remove their 
clothes, a piece of waggery often practised by 
the visitants of Swansea, to enjoy their 

running 



CHAP. I. OSTERMOUTH CASTLE. 27 

running; nudiores ovo. The girls knew that 
we were not their countrymen, or we should 
have passed unconcerned ; unless, indeed, 
acquaintances, who would have made their 
usual salutation, and perhaps joined in the 
party's amusement. In our subsequent ram- 
bles on the beach these liberal exhibitions of 
Cambrian beauty afforded us many pleasing 
studies of unsophisticated nature : 

11 Graceful, cleanly, smooth and round; 
" All in Venus' girdle bound." 

From Swansea we made an excursion across 
the sands to Ostermouth castle, about four 
miles distant, situated on an eminence near 
the coast. The principal walls of this ruin 
are little injured by time, and most of the 
apartments may be readily distinguished ; the 
general figure is polygonal, and the ramparts 
are conspicuously lofty, but unflanked by 
towers, except at the entrance : a profusion 
of ivy overspreading the ruin rather conceals 
than adorns it. This building is supposed to 
have been erected by the Norman conqueror 
of Gowerland, and has almost ever since re- 
mained the property of that Lordship. 

From 



28 PENRICE. CHAP. I. 

From some high hills behind Ostermouth, 
an extensive view is obtained over the penin- 
sula of Gower, and the two noble bays of 
Swansea and Caermarthen, which its pro- 
jection divides : the general aspect of the 
peninsula is wild and dreary. Not far distant, 
near the little bay of Oxwich, are the ruins 
of Pennarth castle, a fortress built soon after 
the Beaumonts conquered Gowerland ; and 
on the opposite side of the bay stands the 
more picturesque ruin of Pen rice castle ; so 
called after the Penrice's, a Norman family 
that settled there in the reign of Edward the 
First. This castle is comprised in an ex- 
tensive domain belonging to Mr. Talbot, 
which occupies a great part of the peninsula ; 
and here Mr. Talbot has erected an elegant 
villa, with all the appendant beauties of wood 
and lawn, lake, and promenade. But, unless 
with a view to improve the estate, one can 
scarcely imagine what motive could induce 
this gentleman to desert his former residence 
at Margam, possessing all the allurements of 
favoured nature, and situated in the midst of 
an agreeable neighbourhood, to force exotic 
elegance upon a bleak unfrequented coast, 

and 



CHAP. I. ARTHUR'S STONE. & 

and fix his abode far from the usual haunts 
of society. 

About three miles northward of Penrice, 
upon a mountain called Cum Bryn, near 
Llanridian, is a table-like monument or 
cromlech*, called Arthur's stone: it con- 
sists of a huge flat stone, supposed to weigh 
near twenty tons, supported upon six or 
seven others about five feet in height ; the 
smaller stones are placed in a circle. — A few 
miles farther, near the mouth of the Loughor, 
is Webley castle, which was described to 
me as a place of considerable antique strength, 
and as being still entire and partially inha-. 
bited. The difficulty of access to this castle, 
and its out-of-the-way situation, prevented our 
visiting it ; similar reasons also prevented our 
seeing a curiosity at Wormshead point, a bold 
promontory jutting far into the sea, and di- 
vided from the main land at high-water by the 
sea's overflowing its low isthmus. Near the 

* The cromlech Is certainly a relic of the Druidical ag<% 
It is variously contended to have been a place of worship, a 
sepulchral monument, and an altar for sacrifice. The latter 
opinion appears to me best supported ; nor can I look on a 
cromlech without adverting to those horrid rites wherein 
human victims were immolated by Druid-craft to excite the 
terrors of superstition. 

extremity 



30 WORMSHEAD POINT. CHAP. I. 

extremity of the point is a cleft in the ground, 
in which if dust or sand be thrown, it will 
be returned back into the air ; and a person 
applying his ear to the crevice will hear a 
deep noise, like the blowing of a large pair 
of bellows : this effect is reasonably attributed 
to the concussions of the waves of the sea in 
the cavernous hollows of the cliff. An old 
author, I think Giraldus Cambrensis, speaks 
of a similar phenomenon in Barry island, 
near the coast between Cardiff and Cow- 
bridge ; but at present no such effect is pro- 
duced at that place. 



CHAP. 



[ 31 ] 



CHAR II, 



LOUGHOR LLANELLY PEMBREE-HILL — 

KIDWELLY, AND ITS CASTLE. 

HAVING satisfied ourselves with the pe- 
ninsula of Gower, we entered upon a zig- 
zag excursion round the coast of South- 
Wales, to its northern boundary, purposing to 
return to Swansea by a midland route. My 
friend had bought an excellent travelling 
horse, though aged, and a little foundered, 
for twelve pounds. I was not so fortunate ; 
the few others that we met with for sale, 
were miserable poneys, and at a price double 
their value in London : I was, therefore, con- 
strained to engage a poor little, hack, at two 
guineas for a fortnight's use ; and thus 
mounted we set forward over a high romantic 
district to Loughor, the Leucarium of Anto- 
ninus, now a poor village ; but still exhibiting 
the ruined keep of its castle, on a raised 
mount surrounded by a moat, From this 

place, 



32 LLANELLY. CHAP. IT, 

place, soiled with the filth of neighbouring 
collieries, we had a river to ford to the oppo- 
site shore. This task is by no means envia- 
ble ; for, in addition to fording a rapid cur- 
rent over a rough stoney bottom, large hol- 
lows are formed by vessels at low water, 
which, not appearing, sometimes entrap the 
unsuspecting traveller, who may think him- 
self well off if he escape with only a duck- 
ing : we thanked our stars when we got 
across ; and, wading through a miserable 
road, and a region of collieries, arrived at 
Ll A nelly (pronounced Llanithly). About 
halfway between the ford and this town, we 
observed Capel Ddewy, a small ruin, pic- 
turesquely accompanied by a yew-tree ; and 
near it the remains of some deserted fur- 
naces. 

In this ride we proceeded at an uncer- 
tainty, till we were fortunately assisted by 
an agreeable matron, who was churning at 
the door of her cottage. Now, as the noise 
of her employment prevented our hearing 
each other, she was obliged to leave off; 
but, that the interval of a few moments from 
labour might not pass unproductively, she 
caught up her knitting needles at the same 

instant, 



CHAP. II. LLANELLY, 33 

instant, and advanced the fabric of a stocking 
while she gave us our directions. Such in- 
stances of persevering industry were frequent 
throughout the principality ; but more parti- 
cularly so from hence westward, where not 
a female was to be seen unemployed in 
knitting, however she might be otherwise at 
work, in carrying loads or driving cattle. 

Llanelly is a small irregular town, and con- 
tains an old seat of Sir John Stepney's, which, 
though deserted by the family, afforded 
habitation to numerous tenants, till the mis- 
chievous operation of the window-tax, in 
driving them out, left it to moulder in decay. 
The high square embattled tower of its 
church is remarkable, in being much wider 
at the base than upwards, forming a sort of 
cone. This town, however, offering no ob- 
jects to detain us, we proceeded without 
halting, and in a few miles ride gained the 
summit of Pembree hill. 

Here a marine view of great extent burst 
upon us; the grand sweep of Caermarthen 
bay appeared beneath, terminated on one 
side by Yvormshead point, and on the other 
by the insulated rock of Caldy in Pembroke- 
shire ; the opposite shores of Somerset and 

d Devon 



34 KIDWELLY. CHAP. IX. 

Devon formed the distance, faintly skirting 
the horizon beyond a vast expanse of sea, 
studded with numerous vessels. Looking in- 
ternally, the country exhibited a strong un- 
dulatory surface, variously chequered with 
wild heaths and rich cultivation. Descending 
the hill, we approached the neat regular- 
built town of new Kidwelly, situated in a 
narrow well-wooded valley. 

The castle forms a noble object, adjoining 
the ruins of old Kidwelly on the opposite 
bank of the river. Leland says, Si the old 
town is prettily waullid, and hath hard by the 
the waul a Castel ; the old tqwn is nearly 
al desolated but the castel is meatcly well 
kept up." This description applies very well 
to the present appearance of the place ; for, 
though the castle is uninhabited, it continues 
tolerably entire. This fortress was built soon 
after the Conquest, by Maurice de Londrcs, 
one of the twelve Norrnan knights who con- 
quered Glamorganshire ; and, after under- 
going the usual vicissitudes of sieges, partial 
demolition, and different masters, fell to the 
crown of England. We were disappointed 
of an internal examination of this fine ruin, 
as the key of the entrance could not readily 

be 




?§ 



CHAP. II. KIDWELLY CASTLE. 35 

be obtained, and we were pressed for time to 
reach Caermarthen before dark. The con- 
tinuance of our route led us on a steep woody 
bank, above the romantic course of Kid- 
welly river ; but it soon deviated to the su- 
perior attractions of the Towey; following 
whose expansive water and verdant accompa- 
niments/ and crossing a long antique bridge 3 
we reached Caermarthen. 



d 2 CHAR 



C 30 ] 



CHAP. III. 



CAERMARTHEN FEMALE LABOURERS — 

LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE A FORD 

JLAUGHARNE CASTLE -FINE MARINE 

VIEWS NEW INN TENBY. 

1 HE situation of Caermarthen, one of the 
most wealthy and polite towns in Wales, can 
scarcely be enough admired ; rising above a 
noble river, and commanding a full view of 
one of the most beautiful vales in the king- 
dom. Internally, there is less to commend ; 
as most of the streets are very steep, and irre- 
gularly built ; yet there are many good pri- 
vate houses, belonging to the neighbouring 
gentry that resort here in the winter months; 
and a handsome town-hall and some other 
buildings do credit to the public spirit of the 
town, though a solitary church may reflect 
but little on its sanctity. Very small remains 
of the castle, now built up into a gaol, ap- 
pear ; or of the walls that formerly encom- 
passed 



CHAP. Ill* CAERMARTHEN - . 37 

passed the town. The trade of the place is 
much facilitated by its fine river, which con- 
veys ships of a good size up to the bridge. 

Caermarthen is the Kaervyrdhin of the 
Britons, the Maridunum of Ptolemy, and the 
Muridunum of Antoninus. The ancient 
Britons reckoned it the capital of all Wales ; 
here they held their Parliaments, or Assem- 
blies of wise men, and here fixed their Chan- 
cery and Exchequer. When the Normans 
overran Wales, this town severely felt the 
miseries of war, being often besieged, and 
twice burnt by the Welch princes ; Gilbert 
Earl of Clare, however, at length fixed his 
power at Caermarthen beyond the reach of 
their attempts. This place gave birth to the 
famous Merlin in the year 480 : he appears 
to have been a man of extraordinary wisdom 
and learning, which, no doubt, occasioned 
him to be looked upon as a magician in that 
dark age, and transmitted as such to poste- 
rity by Monkish writers, who always looked 
with an evil eye upon knowledge possessed 
out of their craft. Here also was born Lewis 
Bayly, chaplain to James the First, after- 
wards Bishop of Bangor, and author of the 
celebrated M Practice of Piety/' 

d 3 From 



S8 FEMALE LABOURERS. CHAP. Ill; 

. From our comfortable quarters at the Greeri 
Dragon, we set out early in the morning ; and, 
G'^ leaving the town, were more interested 
r ' an pJeased, in noticing several fine young 
u ii o were acting as scavengers, while 
t>ne. p ] -o e elegance of form defied even her 
,id habit to conceal it, was bending 
Jbeneath the fatigue of wheeling away the 
iilth in a barrow; In the same point of view, 
seated behind a counter, a brawny-fisted fel- 
low was folding up ribbons and laces. How 
odioqs is the employ of men-milliners ! How 
shameful, that men, who might gain a pros- 
perous livelihood in a thousand ways, should 
interfere with almost the only eligible mean's 
which the limited powers and habits of women 
capacitate them to adopt for a maintenance ! 
Driven from their natural employ, they must 
either have recourse to a cruel drudgery which 
they were not formed, and are generally un- 
able, to 1 eiidure ; or wander after subsistence 
in the paths of shame and misery, at once a 
disgrace, a burthen, and a terror to society. 
But does our censure more properly- fall on 
these men, for entering into the pretty dal- 
liance of women's affairs* in preference to 
masculine pursuits requiring intellectual and 

bodily 



CHAP. III. ROAD TO LLANSTEPHAN. 30 

bodily exertion ? or on the ladies, who en- 
courage men, rather than their own sex, in 
the fiddle-faddle arrangement of their caps 
and tuckers ? 

Passing this group, we soon left the high, 
road, and struck off into a narrow imbowered 
lane, up a laborious ascent, toward Lianste- 
phan Castle. On arriving at the top of the 
hill, we were amply repaid for our toil by a 
most enchanting view over the Vale of the 
Towey : a stripe of the richest verdure, inter- 
sected with numerous hedge-rows and orna- 
mental plantations; arose on each side of the 
river ; above which; a parallel range of high- 
wooded and cultivated hills formed the boun- 
dary of the valley. The extensive town of 
Caermarthen ; the lofty spire of its church * 
the ruined castle, and the long old bridge, 
with several barks lying near it; were con- 
spicuous objects at a short distance in the 
picture ; which was considerably enlivened by 
several gentlemen's seats, and their appendant 
decorations. The town of Abergwilly, on 
the banks of the river, with the bishop of St. 
David's palace, an ordinary building, would 
also have appeared in the distance ; but the 
termination of the valley was denied us, by 

» 4 ths 



40 A FARMING PARTY. CHAP. III. 

the morning mist not having cleared away. 
Pursuing our route, we took every opportunity 
that intervals in the hedge afforded, of renew- 
ing our treat, and discovered new beauties at 
each succeeding station. 

At length we parted with this agreeable 
scenery ; and soon after, on a sudden turn of 
the lane, came within view of the picturesque 
ruin of Llanstephan castle. A farming party 
also appeared at this instant, proceeding with 
goods for Caermarthen market. This group 
was opened by a robust young fellow driving 
a couple of cows ; he wore the general dress 
of the country, a short blue coarse cloth coat, 
and breeches of the same open at the knees ; 
but he also possessed the luxury of shoes and 
stockings. A sledge loaded with sacks of 
grain followed ; drawn by a horse, on which 
a lusty wench sat astride, as the peasant girls 
generally do in Wales ; cloathed in a brown 
jirkin and petticoat, but with her lower ex- 
tremities uncovered. She urged on the horse 
by kicking him with her bare heels, while 
her hands were busied in knitting. Two 
other buxom bare-legged girls followed on 
foot, with their fingers similarly employed, 
and with large baskets of eggs and poultry on 

their 



CHAP. III. LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE. 41 

their heads. But a word on the sledge, the 
common farming carriage in Wales. — This is 
a most simple contrivance, consisting of two 
rude poles, between which the horse is placed; 
their ends trail on the ground, toward which 
extremity there are two or three cross bars ; 
a few upright sticks from these complete the 
carriage. A comely dame, seated on horse- 
back, and accommodated with a sort of side- 
saddle made with cross rails, was probably the 
mistress; she closed the rear ; and her supe- 
rior condition was evident, in her dark blue 
worsted stockings, ponderous shoes, and small 
brass buckles. 

Llanstephan castle crowns the sum- 
mit of a bold hill, whose precipitous base is 
washed by the sea. Its broken walls inclose 
a large area ; and, furnished with several 
encircling earthen ramparts, appear to have 
possessed considerable antique strength. From 
numerous stations it offers a truly picturesque 
appearance ; and in the approach charmingly 
combines with the surrounding landscape; 
which, ever varying, is sometimes coniined to 
the woody character; at others, exhibits the 
wide estuary, the rocky promontory forming 
its opposite shore, and the boundless sea. 

this 



42 'llanstephan. chap, iih 

This castle is said to have been built by the' 
sons of Uchtred, prince of Merionethshire,' 
anno Domini 1138; but soon after fell into 
the hands of the Normans and Flemings ; in 
1145 it was taken from them by Cadelh, son 
of Rhys Prince of South Wales ; and so vigor- 
ously maintained, that the utmost force which 
the foreigners could raise was unable to retake 
it. However, by the year 1 189 it must have 
been in the possession of the English, as Ca- 
radoc informs us that it was then taken front 
them by Prince" Rhys. 

The village, a neat humble place, is snugly 
situated beneath the " Castle-cap'd hill" in a 
woody hollow ; whence we traversed a lofty 
ridge, commanding extensive views, to a 
neighbouring estuary, formed by the Tave 
near its junction with the sea. As the tide 
was out, we could not avail ourselves of the 
ferry, but had ample directions where the 
water might be crossed ; yet, unfortunately; 
on arriving at the sands, the description of cir- 
cumstances received for our guidance proved 
so general, that we were unable to select the 
route intended ; and the broad current ran 
with such threatening rapidity into the sea, 
only half a mile distant, that it would have 

been 



CHAP. lit. FORD TO LAUGHAHNE. 43 

been highly dangerous to have ventured in 
upon hazard. Ignorant how to proceed, and 
unwilling to return three or four miles for 
fresh directions, we gladly observed a couple 
of young women trudging on the sands in a 
direction toward us. The proper place for 
fording was now pointed out, where, it was 
said, the water would scarcely cover our horses* 
knees; we deemed it most prudent, how- 
ever, to let the natives go first, and they ac- 
cordingly entered the river, using the pre- 
caution -of raising their drapery. Vie fol- 
lowed close; but the lasses had considerably 
underrated the depth of the water, for it took 
both them and cur horses above their middles; 
yet so carefully were their clothes held up, 
that not a thread was wetted.- On reaching 
the opposite shore, their petticoats were suf- 
fered to descend : my friend and I then 
.looked at each other, passed an observation, 
returned our thanks to the damsels, wished 
.them a good morrow; and under an over- 
hanging rock of red granite, crowned with the 
■-mantled remains of Laugh as ne castle, 
reached the town, an irregularly built little 
e, seated on a low bank of the estuary. 

Laugharne 



44 LAUGHARNE CASTLE. CHAP. HI, 

Laugharne castle, though not very ex- 
tensive, and not generally striking for pic- 
turesque disposition, lias a noble aspect to- 
ward the town. The foundation of this 
Castle is not transmitted to us in the Welch 
annals, but is, doubtless, of high antiquity ; 
it was occupied, and probably built, by the 
Normans and Flemings on their conquest of 
these parts; afterwards, in the year 1215, it 
was besieged and taken by Llewelyn : Le- 
land says, " it longid some time to the Earl 
of Northumberland." An interesting ride, 
upon a high boundary of the sea, brought us into 
Pembrokeshire, at a place called New Inn. 

In this progress, extensive views ranging 
over the Bristol channel were continual ; but 
one coup d'ceil, 

High from the 'summit of a craggy cliff 
Hung o'er the deep 

was eminently striking ! magnificently beauti- 
ful ! The whole sweep of Caermarthen bay, 
with its several estuaries, high - cliffs, and swel- 
ling shores, appeared beneath us, extending in 
one direction to the extreme point of Gower, 
and in the other to the isle of Caldy in Pem- 
brokeshire ; at the latter termination, the pic- 
turesque whitened town of Tenby, romanti- 
cally 



CHAP. III. MARINE VIEW. 45 

c?lly built on a tongue of rock projecting 
into the sea, seemed issuing from the waves. 
From the grand amphitheatre of this bay, 
the eye roamed, over a vast tract of sea, to 
the shores of Somerset and Devon, near fifty 
miles distant, faintly penciled on the horizon, 
and terminated by the advancing swell of 
Lundy Island. Further westward, the setting 
sun appeared in conjunction with the sea, 
there widening into the Atlantic Ocean ; its 
golden effulgence glittered in reflexion from 
the waves, and diffused itself over the whole 
scenery : numerous barks in the bay, sailing 
on different tacks, caught partial gleams of il- 
lumination ; and a large fleet of ships, en- 
tering the channel at a remote distance, 
seemed little more than dusky spots on the 
glistening expanse : the tout ensemble formed 
one of the most pleasing marine pictures that 
I ever saw.- — The sea, viewed under its or- 
dinary circumstances, from a lo:v situation, 
engages little interest ; the angle of vision is 
then intersected by the aqueous segment at 
the distance of four or live miles; and, with 
little more breadth of water than one meets 
with in a river or lake, the prospect finishes 
in a mere hard line. The case is far other- 
wise 



45 TENBY. CHAP. III.. 

wise when it is viewed from a high moun- 
tain, particularly if that mountain be a bold 
••tor}% and the view bursts upon the, 
spectator on a sudden : a, world of waters then. 

..ets Ins astonished sight ; the immense ob- 
ject presses on his mind an inconceivable 
emotion ; and an image is at once stamped 
ef the genuine sublime. Filled with the vast 
idea, he contemplates with awe and venera- 
tion the magnitude of his Creator's works, and 
sinks into a proper estimate the puny atchieve- 
ments of man.. 

From New Inn, a small collection of cot- 
tages on the beach, with a large old mansion 
iately modernized, but seemingly of the 
foundation of Elizabeth's time, and where (it 
is to be observed) there is no house of public 
entertainment, as the name would imply, 
we passed, among numerous collieries be- 
longing to Lord Mil ford, towards Tenby. 
This town is curiously situated on the ridge of 
a narrow rock projecting into the sea : a sandy 
tract connects it with the main land ; which, 
being sometimes overflowed, the town be- 
comes insulated. The streets of Tenby are 
inconveniently steep ; yet its romantic situa- 
tion, and commodious ^and^ for bathing, have 

latelv 



CHAP. III. TENBY. 47 

lately rendered it a place of fashionable re- 
sort. It has a number of good lodging- 
houses, with a respectable hotel ; and, when 
we were there, boasted an overflow of genteel 
company. The quay was well lined with 
vessels, and the whole carried with it an air of 
opulence. Here w r as formerly an important 
fishery, but that concern is now much dimi- 
nished ; yet the exportation of coals has 
greatly increased, and that article has be- 
come the staple commodity of the place. 
The remains of Tenby castle (a Norman 
structure) are very inconsiderable: the broken 
walls appear toward the extremity of the 
cliff; and below them, I understand, thera 
are some large natural caverns. 



CHAP. 



[ 4S } 






C H A P. 1\\ 



MANORBEER CASTLE AN ADVENTURE — - 

A, DILEMMA CAREW CASTLE LAW- 
KENNY PEMBROKE ITS CASTLE 

LAMPHEY COURT STACKPOLE COURT 

• BOSHERSTON MEER. 

CJ N a tempestuous day, a day fraught with 
trouble and alarm, we left Tenby, and took 
the Pembroke road traced on a ridge of hills, 
which command extensive views over almost 
the whole of Pembrokeshire, and a great part 
of the Bristol channel ; but a heavy atmo- 
sphere frowned on the scenery, and threat- 
ened a violent storm. Leaving the high road, 
we descended toward the sea coast in search 
of the gloomy remains of Manorbeer cas- 
tle, and found the ruin wildly situated as 
described by Leland, " between two little 
hillettes, ,> whose rocky bases repelled the 
fury of an angry sea. This fortress appears 
to have been of Norman erection ; it fell to 

the 




^ 



1 



CHAP. IV. MANORBEER CASTLE. 49 

the Crown in the reign of Henry the First ; 
a grant from James the First presented it to 
the Bowens of Trelosrne ; from them it de- 
scended by marriage into the family of Picton 
Castle,.and in the year 1740 was the property 
of Sir Erasmus Philips, Bart. The ponderous 
towers and massive fragments of this castle 
denote its original strength and importance 
to have been considerable; yet now, de- 
prived of " the pride* pomp, and circum- 
stance of glorious war*" it exhibits a scene so 
wild and desolate* as might disclaim all inter- 
course with man : rank grass clothes every 
projection ; " the thistle shakes its lonely 
head" from the windows, the sea-bird screams 
through the hall, and adders creep where 
many a warrior stalked. From our reverie 
over this gloomy relic of feudal despotism, 
we were alarmed by a vivid flash of lightning; 
a loud clap of thunder succeeded, which, 
reverberating through the ruin, had a most 
impressive effect : the storm became violent* 
and seemed to shake the mouldering battle- 
ments of the ruin ; " from their hills the 
" groaning oaks came down, the sea darkly 
" tumbled beneath the blast, and the rearing 
" waves were climbing against our rocks." 
e A de- 



50 MANORBEER CASTLE. CHAP. IV. 

A deluging rain now poured down, and 
drove us in search of a shelter ; the frag*' 
ments of a spiral staircase offered a descent to 
a subterraneous part of the castle, and we en- 
tered the dark recess of a dungeon,, whose 
mysterious gloom and earthy exhalations 
might stir up fancy to create things worse 

c( Than fables yet have feign'd, or fear Coiiddv'd.** 

I thought I heard a voice ; my friend thought 
so too ; we listened, but soon smiled at the 
conjecture ; it was probably the hoarse roar 
of the^ea or " eddying winds :" but the 
damp air of the dungeon threw a chill over 
us, that was even worse than an exposure to 
the rain ; and we were returning, when a 
repetition of the noise that we heard before 
stopped us: we listened, and distinctly heard 
more than one human voice ; the words were 
undistinguishable, but the tone severe and 
menacing ; all was again silent. My friend 
and I looked at each other, but neither ven- 
tured to impart his thoughts. Conjecture, how- 
ever, did not remain idle. Was this a horde of 
those barbarous men that we had heafd of as 
inhabiting these coasts, who, by settkig up 
false lights, betray the unsuspecting mariners 

on 



Chap. iv. manorbeer castle. 5t 

on rocks and shoals, and then plunder the 
Wreck, often murdering the crew who may 
attempt to defend their property ? Or was it a 
gang of smugglers ? for such men were known 
to conceal their stores in unfrequented ruins, 
and other wild seclusions. We were inclined 
to favour this latter opinion ; but derived little 
satisfaction from it, on considering that they 
were scarcely inferior to the former in fero^ 
city ; and that if they discovered us, every 
thing was to be apprehended from a brutal 
policy, to preserve the secret of their hiding- 
place. 

Our reflections were broken off by a further 
noise, and we plainly heard a hoarse caution- 
ing voice utter, " Only you mind, and we 
shall have 'em both." We again appealed to 
each other's countenances, but no confidence 
appeared in either ; in silence, I threw out 
the tuck of my stick ; my friend drew a 
sword from his ; for we were so far armed 
against attack. Again all was hushed ; and 
we ventured to raise ourselves from the dun-* 
geon, in order to catch a glimpse of the peo- 
ple with whom we had to deal ; when a 
strong flash of lightning illuminated the whole 
ruin ; and from an aperture near its base, we 
e 2 saw 



5 C 2 MANORBEER CASTLE. CHAP. IV. 

saw two men emerge ; the one armed with a 
gun, the other with a spade: — 1 thought I 
had never seen two such murderous-looking 
fellows : we shrunk to our concealment in- 
stinctively ; yet not without an apprehension 
that we had been seen. But our sensations 
may be easier imagined than described, when 
within a few yards one of them was heard to 
say, " Why did you not bring your gun ? I 
shouldn't wonder if one got away :" which 
was answered by, " Only you make sure of 
one, and I'll engage to knock the other's 
brains out." 

Now knowing the worst, we determined 
on sallying out ; if possible, to reach a little- 
village that we had observed at no great dis- 
tance ; or, if discovered, to endeavour upon 
closing in with the gunsman before he could 
take aim. We sprang forward together, and 
had nearly reached the great entrance when? 
the gun went off; and in the same moment 
I saw my friend extended among the frag- 
ments of the ruin :— without stopping, I 
rushed on toward the ruffian, hoping to use 
my stick with good effect before the piece 
could be re-loaded ; when, passing under the 
portal, down the crevice where formerly the 

portcullis 



CHAP; IV.- MANORBEER CASTLE-. 53 

portcullis was suspended, a large fox darted 
and passed before me. A loud voice now 
exclaimed, " Dang it you've missed hur ;" 
and with no less joy than astonishment I be- 
held my friend brandishing his sword behind 
me ; we said nothing, but pushed on toge- 
ther, and, suddenly turning an angle, met 
the villains face to face. Again joy and 
astonishment struggled for pre-eminence ; — 
they recoiled from us, and, dropping their 
weapons, with a loud yell darted out of 
sight ! 

Such dastardly conduct may appear irre- 
concilable with the ferocious design of which 
we suspected them; but cowardice is no 
stranger to cruelty ; and the direct tenor of 
their expressions forbade a rising suggestion 
that thev intended us no harm. Gathering 
up the gun and spade as trophies of our vic- 
tory, and remounting our horses, which re- 
mained as they were le[t 9 tied up in a nook, 
we proceeded to the neighbouring village, or 
rath.er two or three cottages. By the way I 
learned, that upon the report of the gun, 
my friend fell in conseouence of turning short 
upon the slippery fragments of the ruin. On 
our approaching the village, a number of 
e 3 men 



54- MANQRBEER CASTLE. CHAP. IV, 

men* women, and children, appeared crowd-* 
ing together with great eagerness ; and we 
were no sooner perceived, than an evident 
■alarm pervaded the cluster, in which was 
included the two ruffians, However, the 
peaceable demeanour of the tourists, and the 
superiority of numbers on the side of the na- 
tives, united in procuring a parley ; when it 
evidently appeared that a double miscon- 
ception had taken place : the men in whose 
countenances we had read the prognostics of 
homicide, turned out to be two honest young 
farmers, who had traced a couple of notorious 
robbers that had long infested the neighbour- 
hood (a brace of foxes) to their retreat in the 
castle ruins. This account brought with it a 
new application of the sentences that we had 
heard, and we were ashamed of our mis- 
construction ; but the men were not behind-, 
hand with us; for, as they frankly declared, 
from our sudden appearance, they took us 
either for ghosts or devils. The gun and 
spade were now returned ; and, instead ©f a 
deadly encounter, an exchange of good 
wishes took place, on our leaving the vita 
Jagers in the pursuit of our journey. 

By 



CHAP. IV. RIDE TO CAHEW. 55 

By the time we had reascended to the 
turnpike, the evening was closing apace; 
and this circumstance, with the uncomfort- 
able state of the weather, made it a great 
object with us to take up our night's quarters 
as soon as possible. Pembroke was eight 
miles distant, Carew (called Carey) only two 
or three, as we w r ere informed by some 
country-people ; we therefore struck off into 
a bridle-road for the latter place, under their 
direction ; but soon found ourselves at a loss 
which to choose of three roads that presented 
themselves ; yet, seeing no one of whom we 
could enquire, we were obliged to advance 
at hazard ; and, after a long ride through 
mire and loose stones, on meeting with a 
cottager, were directed to return all the way 
back, and take a different route. This vex- 
atious task performed, we found ourselves 
again at a loss, and again took a false route. 
We were now completely enveloped in the 
darkness of night ; the weather continued 
stormy ; and our craggy road hardly wore 
the distinctness of a track. In this forlorn 
condition we slowly paced on, not exclaim- 
ing like Ossian's chief, u Let clouds rest on 
** the hills, spirits fly, and travellers fear; 
f 4- " lei 



56 RIDE TO CAREW, CHAP. IV. 

" let the winds of the woods arise, the sound-: 
*f ing storms descend ; roar streams, and 
" windows flap, and green-winged meteors 
i( fly ; rise the pale moon from behind her 
" hills, or inclose her head in clpuds, night 
4e is alike to me, blue, stormy, or gloomy 
^ the sky." Alas ! it made a sensible dif- 
ference to us ; but at length a distant glim- 
mering of light appeared between the trees,, 
which we gladly traced to a lonely cottage. 
Here, on our calling out, a tail raw-boned 
man opened the door, and discovered three 
others who were regaling round a blazing 
hearth : these were all miners in a neigh- 
bouring coal-work. The uniform black ap- 
pearance of this group, their long matted 
hair half hiding their faces, which caught a 
ferocious turn from the strong partial light of 
the fire, was not calculated to inspire pre- 
possession in their favour ; but, though in the 
exterior repulsive as their cheerless occupa- 
tion, their hearts were not estranged from 
sensations of benevolence ; and yet, so little 
had they of refinement, as to offer no com-. 
plimentary condolence on hearing of our 
difficulties; even yet more unfashionably* 
\j actyal services they relieved them. " Mas- 

V tersh 



CHAP. IV. RIDE TO CAREW, 57 

'■ ters," said one of the men, " if you '11 but 
" step in a minute while I finish my mess of 
" porridge, I'll put you into the right road ; 
■■ it can't be darker than it is ; do sit down, 
" and let me put your horses in the cow- 
" house ; I suppose you wou'd n't like our 
" fare (it was a mess of barley and greens 
*? stewed with a bit of meat or bacon) ; but 
" mother can give you a drop of good mead, 
" and some riecentish bread and butter." This 
invitation, with the manner in which it was 
conveyed, offered a relief that neither of us 
was inclined to reject ; for, indeed, we had 
tasted nothing since breakfast, and besides 
found that some barley might be had for our 
horses. So seating ourselves in the chimney 
comer, we partook of the refreshments brouglit 
us by an old withered matron, who finished a 
scene forming a lively counterpart to that of 
the cavern in Gil Bias. Our dame soon took 
a leading part in conversation ; she gratefully 
expatiated on the bounty of Providence in. 
sending us a plentiful year, and lamented the 
misery that prevailed last winter, when, she 
declared, they were all starving, and many of 
her neighbours died outright of hunger. 
This statement I found general throughout 

the 



5$ CAREW. CHAP. IV, 

the country. We left this humble but hos- 
pitable roof with regret ; nor was it without 
much difficulty that we could prevail on our 
hostess to accept of a trifling acknowledge- 
ment for her favours. 

We again set forward through mire and dark- 
ness, conducted by one of the men, who be- 
guiled the time with stories of ghosts that had 
been seen at Manorbeer castle. At length it 
became somewhat lighter, and we parted with 
our friendly guide upon his shewing us the 
strait road to Carew. " Cold and comfort- 
'* less," we knocked at the inn door (for inn 
is the name of every alehouse in Wales) ; 
when, to put a finishing stroke to the troubles 
of this eventful day, we learned that they 
had neither beds for us nor stabling for our 
horses ; but we had previously heard, that 
the village boasted two inns, and accordingly 
went to the other: a similar information, 
however, awaited us here ; with the addi- 
tional intelligence, that there was not a stable 
in the village, and only one spare bed, which 
was at the other alehouse ; there was no al- 
ternative ; we were constrained to turn our 
tired and hungry horses into a field, and go 
back to the first house. 

Here 



CHAP. IV. CAREW. 59 

Here our apartment served not only " for 
*' parlour and kitchen and hall,? but like- 
wise for bed-room : every thing was in uni- 
son, the discoloured state of the walls and 
furniture ; the care-worn looks of our host 
and hostess ; our scanty fare, consisting of 
hard barley bread and salt butter ; with nau- 
seating ale, that even our keen appetites re- 
jected ; all betokened poverty and wretched- 
ness : while in the bed, which extended 
from one side of the room to the other, two 
children were sending forth the most discor- 
dant yells ; the one suffering a violent tooth- 
ache,, and the other crying because its brother 
cried. After enduring this scene of pur- 
gatory upwards of an hour, we were shewn 
to our bed : it was a recess built in an ad- 
joining room, and furnished with a bag of 
straw, which was kept in its place by a 
couple of boards crossing the niche. In the 
same room was another bed, where two more 
pledges of our landlord's tender passion con- 
tinued to torment us. Vexed with accumu- 
lating plagues, we threw ourselves half uih 
dressed on the bed ; but our evil destiny had 
yet more troubles in store ; — the sheets were 
wringing wet : so that we had reason to ex- 
pect 



60 CAREV/. CHAP. IV. 

peet that on the morrow we should be laid 
up with colds or fevers ; but this apprehen- 
sion was soon superseded ; for a legion of 
fleas attacked us at all points with such per- 
severing ferocity, that we were kept in mo- 
tion the whole night ; a number of rats also, 
by gamboling "among our straw, while others 
were busy in grating a sally port through the 
partition, held us in the fidgets ; and thus 
the danger of obstructed circulation was 
avoided. We had just left oft' cursing rustic 
accommodation, and the itch for travelling 
which had led us to these sufferings, when 
the door opened ; no light appeared, but the 
sound of footsteps, softly treading, passed 
near us. Suspecting foul play, we instantly 
sprang up, and caught hold of a poor ragged 
girl, who acted as maid of the inn, and was 
going to sleep with the children in the other 
bed. 

This kind of rural accommodation may 
appear very diverting in a narrative ; but 
to those accustomed to better fare, it will be 
found a very serious evil. Indeed, from this 
specimen we afterwards made it a rule to 
finish our day's journey at a good town ; in 
consequence of which salutary resolution, 

except 



CHAP, IV. CAREW CASTLE. 61 

except in one or two instances, we were 
never without a comfortable lodging. This 
caution is very practicable in South Wales, 
as the most interesting part of the country is 
well furnished with accommodation. 

On issuing from our house of mortification, 
we were regaled with a fine view of Carew 
castle, situated on a gentle swell above an 
arm of Miiford-haven. Its extensive remains 
shew it to have been rather a splendid palace, 
than a mere fortress ; and it evidently appears 
the work of different ages. The North front, 
a portion looking over the river, is scarcely 
castellated, but exhibits the mode of building 
in use about the time .of Henrv the Eighth. 
From the level of this front, the windows, 
square and of grand dimensions, project in 
large bows : internally, this part is highly 
ornamented ; and a chimney-piece with Co- 
rinthian columns appears anicng the latest 
decorations of the structure. The great hali, 
built in the ornamented Gothic style, though 
much dilapidated, is still a noble relic of 
antique grandeur. Other parts of the build- 
ing are of more remote date, and most of 
the walls are remarkably thick and of solid 
masonry : a peculiarity to be noticed ; as the 

Welch 



62 CAREW CASTLE!. CttAP. IV* 

Welch castles are chiefly constructed of grout* 
work *. The subterraneous dungeons are 
remarkably extensive, and assimilate with 
the grandeur of the general design. This 
castle was anciently a residence of the Welch 
princes, and given by one of them (Rhys ap 
Theodore), with extensive lands, as a mar- 
riage portion with his daughter, to Gerald de 
Cario, an Anglo-Norman chieftain, and ancestor 
of the last proprietor of the castle ; who, ac- 
cording to the tradition of the neighbourhood, 
died a hundred and seventy years ago ; since 

which time the castle has been left to decav. 

j 

Here many a lofty tower of once menacing 
aspect lies hid in a leafy umbrage. The 
spacious hall, that in feudal ages glittered in 
baronial splendor, is now engrafted with ivy, 
or in mouldering fragments lies an undis- 
tinguished heap with the common earth i 
where once was attuned the sweet song of 
minstrelsy, is now heard the hoarse note of 
the raven ; no more the high-wrought arras 
shakes mysteriously from the walls, but an 
unaffected profusion of ivy mantles the for- 
saken apartments ; beasts graze where dark- 

* See the Introduction,. Section 3. 

plumed 



CHAP. IV. CAREW CASTLE. 6$ 

plumed barons sat arrayed ; and the hal- 
lowed chamber of " my lady bright" is be- 
come the resort of bats and screech-owls* 

Here the enthusiast, while scanning Gothic 
halls and " cloud-cap'd towers," may feel his 
mind transported to the ages of chivalry, and 
image all the pageantry of feudal shews ! Or, 
in more humble mood, may look upon their 
faded grandeur, and venerate a silent monitor 
of human ostentation. 

As we admired the picturesque beauty of 
this scene, or indulged in the moral reflec- 
tions to which it gave rise, we forgot our in- 
conveniences and fatisrue, and cheerfully re- 
turned to the inn. Our horses were in wait- 
ing : poor animals ! they had no intellec- 
tual set-oft to the solid ill fare that they met 
with ; but, unrid of the previous day's mire, 
proceeded with us on the road ro Pembroke. 
On leaving the village, we observed a Gothic 
cross on the side of the road, about twelve or 
fourteen feet high, and apparently formed of 
a single stone : it was carved all over with 
knots and scrolls, but we did not stop to ex- 
amine it minutely. On ascending a hill, we 
had a grand view of the castle : indeed, it is 
from the south and south-west alone that its 

important 



fii LAWRENNY. CHAP. IV. 

important dimensions fully appear : hen eel 
also we saw the elevated mansion of Law- 
renny, seated on a lofty bank of an arm of 
Milford-haven, and beautifully accompanied 
with wood and lawn. This place, particu- 
larly excelling in natural beauties, is con- 
sidered as one of the first seats in Pembroke- 
shire ; and w r e understood that it had received 
much improvement from the taste and libe- 
rality of Mr. Barlow, the present proprietor, 
A ride on an elevated ridge, which but for 
the morning mists would have commanded 
extensive views, brought us to Pembroke. 

The town of Pembroke principally con- 
sists of one wide street built along the ridge of 
a hill (washed by an arm of Milford-haven)* 
and terminated at one extremity by its castle. 
Although of late declining in commercial 
importance, the aspect of the town is neat 
and genteel. Leland says of this town in his 
time, " it is welle wauled and hath iii gates, 
" est, west, and north ; of the wich the est 
" gate is fairest and strongest, having afore hit 
"a compasid tour, not rofid ; in the entering 
" where of is a Portcalys, ex solido Jbro." 
Of these erections there are now but very 
imperfect remains ; we observed, however, 

that 



CHAP. IV, PEMBROKE CASTLE. 65 

that the north gate was still in tolerable re- 
pair. 

Pembroke castle is a noble ruin, seated 
on a cliff above the river. Caradoc of Llan- 
caroon says, that it was founded by Arnulph, 
son to the Earl of Shrewsbury) anno 1094; 
but Giralclus Cambrensis fixes the time of its 
erection in the reign of Henry the First, and 
the rounded arches that occur in the building 
determine its foundation not to have been 
later than that prince's reign. The most re- 
markable features of this ruin are> the grand 
entrance, which is still entire ; and the Juliet, 
or high round tower* the antient citadel, 
which has still the " Rofe of stone almost in 
" conum ; the top whereof is covered with a 
" flat mille stone ;" as described by Leland. 
The walls of this tower are fourteen feet in 
thickness; its diameter within is twenty-five 
feet, and its height to the top of the dome 
seventy-five feet : from mortices in the walls, 
this tower appears to have been divided into 
four floors. The ruined chapel also is a conspi- 
cuous object viewed externally ; — and imme- 
diately underneath it, in the body of the rock, 
is the Wogan, a grand cavern deemed natural : 
if it be so, however, Nature has taken more 

f paras 



66 LAMPHEY CASTLE. CHAP. IV* 

pains in turning it correctly circular, and raising 
its elevated roof, than she generally is found to 
have done in works of this kind. Its diameter 
is fifty-three feet ; and just within the en- 
trance we observed a spiral staircase which leet 
through the rock to the chapel within the 
castle. From the foundations of an outwork,, 
which we traced among shrubs and brambles 
on the margin of the. river, opposite the 
cavern's mouth, it appears to have been less 
a place of concealment than an avowed sally- 
port, or regular entrance from the river. 
The castle is remarkable in history for having 
been the birth-place of Henry the Seventh ;. 
and also for the gallant defence that it made 
for Charles the First. 

About two miles from Pembroke,, near the 
road to Tenby,, is Lamphey court, an epis- 
copal palace belonging to the see of St. 
David's ;; and^ after the alienation,, a residence 
of Lord Essex's, the favourite of Elizabeth. 
This dilapidated structure is chiefly remark* 
able for a light parapet, raised on arches en- 
circling the building, similar to the one 
noticed at Swansea. From Pembroke, a road 
extends southward through an uninteresting, 
district to Stackpoole court, the seat of 

Lord. 



CHAP. IV. STACKPOOLE COURT. 61 

Lord Cawdor, situated in a deep romantic 
valley near the sea-coast. The mansion is 
worthy of its noble owner ; and the finely- 
Wooded park and grounds exhibit a more 
luxuriant verdure than might be expected so 
near a sea-beat promontory. A short distance 
westward, upon the coast, is St. Govin's 
chapel ; and near it, a well of the same name, 
thought by the country people to be mira- 
culous in the cure of several disorders. We 
have since regretted our not visiting the sea- 
fcliffs in this neighbourhood, which we are 
told assume a very grand and romantic ap- 
pearance. In the same neighbourhood we 
find described Bosherston-meer, " a pool 
X( of water so deep that it could never be 
" sounded ; yet before a storm it is said to 
*' bubble* foam, and make a noise so loud 
t( as to be heard at several miles distance, 
" The banks are of no great circumference at 
" the top, but broader downwards, and at a 
" considerable depth is a great breach towards 
" the sea, which is about a furlong distant* 
u and is supposed to have a subterraneous 
u communication with it *." 

* A Description of England and Wales, Vol. VII. 

f 2 CHAP. 



t *B J 



C H A P. V. 



LITTLE ENGLAND BEYOND WALES — ML- 
FORD-HAVEN WELCH BEAUTIES HA- 
VERFORDWEST FAIR- — THE TOWN, CAS- 
TLE, AND PRIORY PICTON CASTLE 

HABBERSTON MILFORD. 



iN the reign of Heriry the First, a colony 
of Flemings, driven from their country by 
an inundation, were permitted to settle In the 
western neighbourhood of Milford-haven. 
These were often attacked by the Welch, but 
unsuccessfully : they soon extended their ter- 
ritory over a great part of the county, and, 
in conjunction with the Normans, carried 
their arms as far as Llanstephan. Camden 
calls this district, " Little England be- 
" yond Wales ;" and the difference of ap- 
pearance, customs, and language, between 
the inhabitants of southern Pembrokeshire 
and their neighbours, is strikingly obvious at 
the present day. The tourist in Caermarthen- 
' - - shire 



CHAP V GILFORD- HAVEN." 6$ 

shire will scarcely meet a peasant who speaks 
a word of English ; but in an hour's ride, to- 
wards Pembroke, lj,e will find it universally 
spoken. I remarked this to mine host at 
Carew ; who exultingly assured me, that 
Pembrokeshire was out of Wales ; that he 
(a native of the place) was an Englishman ; 
and that for his part he did not understand 
any thing of the Yv r elch gibberish. 

The men, tall and well made, evidently 
incline more to the English character than the 
"Welch ; yet they possess some personal traits 
distinct from either : I imagined, indeed, 
in many of the peasantry a resemblance to the 
present inhabitants of Flanders. Although 
this corner of the principality is the most re- 
mote from England, it is the most civilized. 
This rnav be accounted for, from the com- 
mercial habits brought over by the Flemings 
(which still continue) introducing the manners 
of other nations ; an advantage denied to the 
generalitv of the Welch, whose ancient (per- 
haps wholesome) prejudices disinclined them 
tp extensive commerce. 

We took our final departure from Pem- 
broke, on the road to Haverfordwest, not 

f 3 without 



70 MILFORD-HAVEN. CHAP. V # 

without often looking back on the princely 
relics of its castle, towering above the river : 
but, crossing a ridgy eminence, our attention 
was diverted by the appearance of Milfqrdt 
haven. 

This noble harbour, immortalized by the 
strains of our great dramatic poet, is of an 
oblong figure ; about ten miles in length, 
and from one to two in width. It is justly 
considered as the best and safest in Great 
Britain, and inferior to none in Europe; 
abounding with the best anchorage, and 
having five bays, ten creeks, and thirteen 
roads. Two forts that were erected in the 
time of Elizabeth on the opposite points of 
the entrance, called Nangle and Dale block- 
houses, are now neglected. 

As a picturesque object, Milford-haven is 
chiefly interesting for its noble sheet of water : 
its peaceable shores, rising in gentle hills, 
may please from their flowing outline ; but, 
uncloathed with wood, and unbroken into 
crags or precipices, their sameness fails to 
interest an eye habituated to bolder scenery. 
The mouth of the haven, turning suddenly 
southward, gives it from most points of view 
the appearance of a lake. It very strongly 

reminded 



CHAP. V. MIL'FORD-HAVEN. 7.1 

■reminded me of several of the lakes in Cum- 
berland ; but, although its surface is greater, 
the lakes far transcend it in the accompany- 
merits of rock and wood, and a sedgy mar- 
gin that mixes its verdure with the water: 
whereas the haven is surrounded by a broad 
stripe of mud, except at high tide: this de- 
fect, however, is constituent to all estuaries and 
tide rivers, i More richly decorative in their 
-scenery are the three branches of Milford- 
haven, which diverge at the extremity of the 
great bason, and distribute fertility and beauty 
over the principal part of Pembrokeshire *. 
It was our intention to have crossed these 
branches at Lawrenny and Landshipping, 
and to have taken Picton castle and Slebatch 
in our way to Haverfordwest ; but, not having 
-a whole day before us, considering the time 
due to the several objects, and learning that 
the ferries were uncertain, we recollected our 
sufferings at Carew, and by taking the direqt 

* The shores of Mil ford -haven abound with lime-stone ; 
which, affording a rich manure (with coals and culm), is con- 
veyed by water over a great portion of the county. In the 
shores of the haven also, near its junction with the operf 
sea, are many veins of copper ore, some of which are con- 
jectured to be veiy rich j but none have been explored with 
perseverance. 

f 4 road 



72 WELCH BEAUTIES. GflAP. V-» 

road to Haverford avoided the risk of being 
again benighted *. 

We were detained at tire ferry near an 
hour ; for the embarkation and passage of 
three carriages and their horses from the o[> 
posite side occupied all the boats during that 
time. But, although restless enough our* 
selves, we were not the most anxious part of 
a company that was waiting for a passage ; 
several young men and near twenty young 
women, all dressed in their holiday-clothes, 
were panting for the amusements of Haver- 
fordwest fair : perhaps a description of these 
lasses may convey some idea of Pembrokeau 
beauty. 

Health, contentment, and cheerfulness, 
combined, formed their predominant expres- 
sion : yet it might be truly said, in the words 
of Gra) r , 

<c O'er their •warm cheeks and rising bosoms move 

f* The bloom of young Desire, and purple light of j/ove," 

A roundish oval circumscribed their faces; 
their eyes, not over large, of a dark blue, 

* J>ord Kensington described tome a very picturesque ruin 
called Benton castle, situated upon the borders qf Milford-* 
baven near the arm of Lawreuny. This ruin I had not an 
opportunity of seeing, nor do I remember having read of it n\ 
any of the descriptions of Wales, 

unstrained 



CKAP. V. WELCH BEAUTIES, Yo 

-unstrained by the wakeful vigils of fashion-, 
able revelry, displayed all the native bril- 
liancy of those interesting organs ; their noses,: 
though of the snub kind, were well formed ;• 
and pretty pouting lips were ever ready to 
distend into a smile, on which occasion rows 
of ivory appeared, such as could hardly be 
matched out of Pembrokeshire *. The ten- 
dency to embonpoint, so characteristic of the 
Welch woman, was by no means displeasing 
in these young «nd elastic subjects ; whatever 
was lost in ekgancc, was compensated in 
another point of view ; their necks, of the 
most luxuriant prominence, 

*' With youth wild-throbbing"' — 

were modestly handkerchlefed to their throats; 
yet did the thin gauze covering, closely em- 
bracing the proud distensions of nature, only 
the more bewitch in gly manifest the beauties 
which it was appointed to conceal. Their 
other proportions were in unison, and, as a 
jockey, who was also going to the fair, coarsely, 

# I a*ted one of tfrefse i oung women , with the utmost 
seriousness ami civility, at least with nil that I was master of, 
yhat they made use of to render their teeth so uncommonly 
vhite; when the arch hussy waggishly replied, " Ouly a 
'<■ little nice white sand, and a scrubbing-brush, Sir," 

but 



74 WELCH BEAUTIES. CHAP. V, 

but clearly, observed, " full of hard meat/" 
In truth, among them, it were no difficult 
matter to find what Homer would call — 
SaAs^y Ts-ot^otKotTiv, The dress of the Welch 
women, however, is not calculated to set off 
their persons : a close mob cap has little grace* 
especially when surmounted with a round felt 
hat; and their very long waists, and brown 
or plaid cloth jackets and petticoats, but render 
the rotundity of their foundations more un- 
picturesque. It cannot at present be said, that 

c{ their tender limbs 

ie Float in the loose simplicity of dress y\ 

yet, as the smart girls begin to imitate our 
English modes, in the course of a few years 
every contour of nature may be as free to 
public inspection in Wales, as it is at present 
in the polite circles of the metropolis. 

Crossing the ferry, we left this interesting, 
group ; and, in proceeding up a high bank 
of the haven, enjoyed a fine view of its ex- 
pansive surface, and grand undulating shores. 
About half-way to Haverfordwest a new scene 
burst upon us, consisting of a wide luxuriant 
valley, watered by a large arm of Milford- 
haven. We were denied a distinct view of 
this scene by a hazy atmosphere ; but are in-' 

formed, 



£HAP. V. HAVERFORDWEST FAIR. 75 

formed, that it is uncommonly rich and ex* 
tensive in clear weather. On approaching 
the town of Haverfordwest up a laborious 
ascent, we passed through the fair, which is 
held just without the town. Black cattle and 
jhorses were the chief objects of the meeting, 
which had scarcely any diversions; no shews; 
nor any jugglers, except a recruiting party, 
and tw r o or three cattle jobbers, or middle 
men, who agreed upon the price of the 
market, while the actual buyers and sellers 
stood gaping at each other, in amazement 
how such prices could be obtained ! Perhaps 
they had to learn, that for an indispensable 
commodity, exclusively held by a set of men 
whose interests are common, any price may 
be obtained ! But we had some rural sports; 
a party of rustics were dancing on the green, 
to the notes of a miserable scraper ; yet of 
him it could not be said, 

<l Old Orpheus play'd so well, he mov'd old Nick j 
" But thou mov'st nothing but thy fiddle-stick ;" 

for the reeking brows of his company very 
plainly evinced the laborious agitation that he 
had excited. Close by, agame at see-saw seemed 
to create much diversion among the bye- 
standers. We joined in the throng, and were 

entertained 



16 HAVERFORDWEST FAIR. CHAP. V. 

entertained with a good-natured dispute be- 
tween a comely lad and as blythe a lass as 
any the fair could boast : they were in the 
midst of their acquaintance ; and we learned 
from one of them, that on the following 
Sunday they were to be married : he wished 
her to ride with him at see-saw, and she per- 
sisted in refusing ; he hauled her to no pur- 
pose, until a sharp-looking little girl said, that 
if she were in his place she would put off the 
wedding for a fortnight, to be revenged ; a 
loud laugh succeeded this, at the expence of 
the bride-elect ; but the allusion to matrimony 
forced no downcast confusion on the lass ; 
perhaps her rosy dimples were painted with a 
deeper hue ; yet the suffusion arose rather 
from a glowing idea, than a sensation of uiir 
necessary shame : wherefore should she be 
ashamed of the approaching fulfilment of her 
long-cherished wishes ? — I do not know whe* 
ther she feared that her lover might adopt the 
advice of her mischievous friend, or whether 
it was the natural compliance of the sex dis- 
qualifying them for stout denial, that acted 
upon her ; but she at length yielded. Alas, 
poor damsel ! she was not yet an adept at 
seesaw ; and a verification of Buxoma's 

mischance 



C&AI*. V. HAVERFORDWEST. 77 

mischance was witnessed by the whole com- 
pany : 

** Cuddy.— Across the fallen oak the plank I laid, 

" And myself pois'd against the tott'ring maid, 
" High leap'd the plank, adown Buxoma fell : 
" I spy'd — but faithful sweethearts never tell." 

The town of Haverfordwest irregular!)? 
bulk on the steep bank of the river Hia, 
may now be considered as the capital of 
Pembrokeshire ; as well on account of its 
superior extent and opulence, as from its 
having lately become the place of the grand 
session. But the streets are narrow and dirty* 
and so steep as to be seriously dangerous, A 
few £ood houses, among: which is a residence 
of the dowager lady Kensington, start up 
here and there ; but in such situations, as to 
convey no look of importance to the place. 
However commerce may have diffused wealth 
through this town, and proclaimed it the 
successful rival of Pembroke ; yet, compared 
with the clean, placid, and respectable mien 
of the latter, it ensures no pre-eminence of 
esteem from the tourist: it may, indeed, present 
to him the idea of a purse-proud shop-keeper, 
strutting before a decayed gentleman. 

The 



7S Haverfordwest castle. chap. V{ 

The castle, seated on a cliff adjoining the 
town, is said to have been built by Gilbert Earl 
of Clare, in the reign of King Stephen, and was 
occupied by the Flemings. Though still pos- 
sessing considerable portions of its former im- 
portance, yet, engrafted with modern addi- 
tions to fit it for the county jail, it has little 
picturesque attraction. A wall connected with 
the castle, which once surrounded the town, 
is still in part standing : a good quay, a cus- 
tom house, a free school, a charity school, 
and an alms house, are among the public 
concerns of this town. Of three churches 
that it boasts, that of St. Mary is a neat build- 
ing ; and its spire, covered with shingles and 
warped from the perpendicular, has a curious 
effect. A short distance southward of the 
town, near the river, are some remains of a 
priory of Black canons, founded by John de 
Haverford. 

An excursion of three or four miles led us 
to Picton castle, the noble seat of lord 
Milford, whose extensive domains cover a 
great part of the surrounding country. This 
may be considered as one of the most antique 
residences in the kingdom, having been built 

by 



CKAP. V. FICTON castle; 7& 

by William dePicton, a Norman knight, in the 
reign. of William Rufus. Upon his line's be- 
coming extinct, it descended to the Wogans, 
then to the Dones, and afterwards to the Phi- 
lipses of Kylsant ; and during the Civil Wars, 
Sir Richard Philips made a long and vigorous 
defence in it for King Charles. It is one of 
the very few castles that escaped the dilapi- 
dations of Cromwell, and is also remarkable 
for having been always inhabited ; yet the 
alterations and additions of successive occu- 
piers have not deprived it of its embattled 
figure. The extensive and delightful plan- 
tations of this seat unite with those of Sle- 
batch, a handsome house built by the late 
Mr. Barlow, and now in the possession of Mr. 
Philips. 

In another excursion from Haverfordwest^ 
passing Johnston, an old seat of Lord Ken- 
sington's, to the obliging communications of 
which nobieman I feel myself greatly in- 
debted, we reached Hubberston Haikin, 
a fishing town in Milford-haven, whence the 
Waterford packets depart from Britain. This 
is a poor place, and ill-supplied with accom- 
modation for travellers ; but at the still smaller 

town 



8Q MILFORD. CHAP. V. 

town of MiLFORD, on the opposite side of 
the river, we were informed, a good inn is 
established. Near Habberston are the smail 
remains of a priory, consisting chiefly of the 
gate-house ; but of what foundation or order 
no legend informs us. 



CHAP, 



[ « ■] 



C H A P. VI. 



JOURNEY OVER THE PRECELLY MOUNTAIN 
TO CARDIGAN EXTENSIVE PROSPECT- 
CARDIGAN ST. dogmael's PRIOHY 

ANOTHER ROUTE FROM HAVERFORDWEST 
TO CARDIGAN, BY ST. DAVID'S THE CA- 
THEDRAL OF ST. DAVID'S GRAND RUINS 

OF ITS PALACE A LOGGAN, OR ROCKING 

STONE RAMSAY ISLAND FISHGUARD 

NEWPORT KILGARRAN CASTLE 

SALMON LEAP — NEWCASTLE. 



1 H E choice of our journey from Haverford- 
west * to Cardigan was a matter of some dif- 
ficulty ; we were desirous of traversing the 

Precelly 

* From Haverfordwest, a turnpike road extends to Caer- 
marthen, 33 miles distant. About nine miles from Haverford, 
and one to the left of the road, is Lawhaden castle^ pic- 
turesquely seated on a bold eminence, overlooking an exten- 
sive country. This ca6tle was the principal seat of the Bishops 

g of 



82 TROGAN ROCKS. CHAP. VI. 

Precelly Mountain, but could not think of 
leaving the ruins of St. David's unexamined. 
At last we hit upon the expedient of each 
taking a different road : my companion, 
having the better horse, took the circuitous 
route by St. David's ; and I, the direct road 
over the mountains. 

Proceeding upon this arrangement two or 
three miles, I halted to take a retrospective 
view of the country. Haverfordwest now* 
wore a singular appearance, with its houses 
piled on each other ; but, accompanied by a 
fine river well furnished with vessels, and by 
its bridge and massive castle, it presented an 
agreeable picture. At some distance west- 
ward, the lofty tower of Roche castle was 
conspicuous ; and partly in the same direc- 
tion, the Trogan rocks, rising from the ver- 
dure in abrupt crags, so as to be generally 
mistaken for stupendous ruins. Turning to 
the east, within a short distance appeared an 

of St. David's ; but in the year 1616 Bishop Milborne obtained 
leave to dismantle it, the lead and other expensive materials 
having been purloined by his holy predecessors. Narbeth, a 
small irregular town built on a hill about 11 miles on the road, 
has some inconsiderable ruins of a castle erected by Sir An- 
drew Perrot, whose ancestor came over at the Conquest. The 
road, passing through St. Clare, a pleasing village, continues 
onward without any particular attraction. 

ancient 



iCHAP. VI. PRECELLY MOUNTAIN. 83 

ancient encampment called St. Leonard's 
rathe, crowning a bold eminence ; this 
work is circular, and, from the height of its 
vallum and depth of its ditch, may be attri- 
buted to the Saxons. 

As I advanced from this spot I parted with 
the beauties of the country : no objects of 
interest occurred ; the unadorned views be- 
came compressed in narrow limits, until at 
length they were shut up in mountainous 
hollows. In this dreary track stands a poor 
solitary house called New inn, half way be- 
tween Haverford and Cardigan : however, I 
here obtained part of a goose for my dinner, 
and then proceeded up the Precelly Moun- 
tain. 

This mountain, reckoned the highest in 
South Wales, is part of a great ridge crossing 
Pembrokeshire in a direction East and West. 
On gaining the summit, a prodigious extent 
of prospect burst upon me. In front, <t wild 
hilly tract, yet not undiversified with patches 
of cultivation, stretched nearly to the northern 
confines of South Y/ales, where the pale sum- 
mit of Plinlimmon, in Montgomeryshire, might 
be just distinguished from the atmospheric 
blue : more westward, beyond a vast expanse 
g 2 of 



84 CARDIGAN. 'CHAP. t¥/ 

of sea, like a doubtful mist rising from it, 
appeared Bardsey island, and the neighbour- 
ing shores in Caernarvonshire ; and looking 
across the miserable country about Fishguard 
and St. David's", my guide assured me, that 
" on a very clear day a very good eye might 
" discover the mountains of Ireland ;" but, 
I confess, it was not my good fortune to dis- 
cover any such appearance. On looking 
backward, the whole of the interesting coun- 
try that I had travelled in the neighbourhood 
of Milford-haven appeared in one compre- 
hensive though distant display. From dwel- 
ling a considerable time on these extensive 
scenes, I traversed an uninteresting country 
made up of lumpy hills, and left Pembroke- 
shire in crossing the handsome old bridge of 
Carefiganv 

Cardigan (in Welch chronicles Abertivy^} 
is a neat respectable town, though many of 
its streets are narrow and steep, seated on the 
north bank of the river Tivy, near its junction 
with the sea : the river is navigable for ships 
of small burthen up to the quay, which 
enables the inhabitants to cany on a pretty 

* Aber, in Welch, signifies- the month of a river : hence 
^.hertivy, Aberystwith, &c. 

brisk 



CHAP VI. CARDIGAN CASTLE. 85 

brisk trade with Ireland. This town, though 
small, is governed by a mayor, thirteen al- 
dermen, and as many common councilmen. 
The ruins of its castle, appearing on a low 
cliff at the foot of the bridge, are very incon- 
siderable, scarcely showing more than the 
fragments of two circular bastions overgrown 
with ivy; yet it was once a large and im- 
portant fortress. Its foundation is ascribed to 
Gilbert de Clare, about the year 1160 ; but 
it was soon after taken, and in part destroyed, 
by Rhys ap Gryffith * 

Here are also the remains of a priory of 
Black monks, which was dedicated to St. 
Mary, and was subordinate to the abbey of 
Chertsey in Surrey. 

Near Cardigan, in the year 1136, the 
English army, commanded by Ranolph earl 

* Powell, in his History of Wales, fays, that it was rebuilt 
before the year 1176; when Rhys, Prince of South Wales, 
made therein a great entertainment at Christmas, at which 
were present many hundreds of the English, Norman, and 
Irish nobility. Among other things for their entertainment, 
he caused all the bards throughout Wales to come thither 5 
and seating them round the hall, they had to contend with 
each other in rhyme : such as excelled, were promised great 
rewards and rich presents, The North Wales bards were 
acknowledged victors in poetry, and Prince Rhys's own ser- 
vants the ablest musicians. 

G 3 of 



86 st. dogmael's priory. chap, rr, 

of Chester, was shamefully worsted, and the 
two barons Robert Fitz Roger and Pain Fitz 
John, with 3000 others, slain on the spot, 
besides a great number drowned by the fall 
of a bridge. In this battle the English soldiers 
appeared to be planet-struck, surrendering 
themselves prisoners to mere old women ; 
and the general with a few men made their 
escape not without great difficulty. 

Early in the morning after my reaching 
Cardigan, I made an excursion in search of 
St. Dogmael's Priory, about a mile and a 
half distant. This fragment of antiquity is 
very much dilapidated, and boasts scarcely 
any picturesque appearance ; the few parts 
standing are converted into barns, sheds, and 
habitations ; but enough remains to shew the 
original extent of the church ; which was 
cruciform, of no considerable dimensions, and 
of the early Qothic style ; in the cemetery 
adjoining the ruin, and the village church, 

(C a church -yard yew, 

<e Decay'd and worn with age," 

has a pleasing characteristic effect : and here 
the scene, finely interspersed with wood, and 
overlooking the Tivy, is undoubtedly pic- 
turesque. This priory was founded for Bene- 
dictine 




^ 



1 



CHAP. VI. ST. DOGMAEL'S PRIORY. 87 

dictine monks by Martin de Turribus, a Nor- 
man chieftain, who first conquered the sur- 
rounding territory called Karnes or Kemishj 
and deluged it with the blood of its natives. 
This was a common trick for cheating the 
devil, practised by the organized plunderers 
of that day. After pillaging a country, and 
enslaving or massacreing the legitimate pro* 
prietors, they hoped to expiate their crime, 
and quell the rising qualms of conscience) 
by appropriating a part of their booty to a 
monkish foundation — to a set of idle jug* 
glers, scarcely less inimical to the rights of 
society, though less ferocious, than them- 
selves. 

Returning to the inn, I rejoined my fellow* 
tourist, who had just completed his circuit 
of between forty and fifty miles round the 
coast : of this route I learn the following par- 
ticulars : 

From Haverfordwest the road passes near 
the elevated ruin of Roche castle ; thence 
extends through a wild dreary country, near 
St. Bride's dangerous bay, and crosses the 
romantic creek of Solva to the once flourish- 
ing city of St. David's, now in appearance 
an inconsiderable village. This deserted place 

g 4 occupies 



£§ st. david's, * chap, to 

occupies a gentle eminence on that projects 
ing rocky cape called St. David's head. In 
a sheltered hollow beneath the town, are the 
noble ruins of the Metropolitan episcopacy of 
Wales ; yet the Cathedral of St. David's, 
though long a mouldering pile, having lately 
undergone a thorough repair, with a just at* 
tention to the antique style of architecture, 
now appears in renewed magnificence, This 
venerable structure is cruciform, of large 
dimensions, and of the early Gothic archw 
lecture, though not without much of the 
high-wrought fretwork additions of later ages, 
The nave alone wears all the simplicity of 
its original construction ; the tower, highly 
ornamented, rises from the middle of the 
church to the height of 127 feet; Bishop 
Vaughan's chapel behind the choir, and the 
dilapidated one of St. Mary's, exhibit all the 
elegant tracery of the ornamented Gothic ; as 
does also the chapter-house, and St. Mary's 
hall, now a ruin. Among the numerous 
ancient monuments that are to he met with in 
the church and its chapels, those of Owen 
Tudor, and Edward Earl of Richmond, father 
of Henry the Vlfth, both situated near the 
inidclle of the choir., are worthy of notice. 

The 



CHAP. VI, ST ? DAVIDS. 89 

The episcopal palace is a superb ruin, sur- 
mounted with a light parapet raised upon 
arches, in the style of Swansea castle and Lam^ 
phey court. M The area of the great court is 
** 120 feet square ; on the east side of which 
" is the Bishop's hall, 5 8 feet in length, and 
4( 23 in breadth ; the King's hall, on the 
" south side, is 88 feet by 80. This grand 
* saloon is said to have been built expressly 
" for the reception of King John, on his re- 
" turn from Ireland in 1211." But we are 
informed by Godwin, that the palace itself 
was not erected until about the year 1335 ; 
which must be an anachronism, unless the 
Story of King John be unfounded. The first 
hall is a grand room ; but the latter has been 
particularly splendid. Over the fine arched 
entrance are the statues of King John and his 
queen ; and at the east end is a curious circu- 
lar window with bars divenn-nff from the cen- 
tre, still in a perfect condition. The chapel 
containing the remains of a font, and kitchen 
amply furnished with four chimneys, are also 
entire : nor are the forsaken apartments de- 
ficient in proofs of the regal splendor assumed 
by the Romish pastors of Christian humility. 

Many 



90 st." david's. chap. vr. 

Many ruinous buildings, once habitations 
of ecclesiastical functionaries, surround the 
cathedral ; yet sufficient are kept in repair 
for the diminished number of officers now 
appointed : the cathedral service is, neverthe-* 
less, performed with an attention that would 
do credit to more eminent establishments; 
The whole of these buildings are inclosed by 
a wall eleven hundred yards in circum- 
ference. 

St. David's is supposed to have been a 
Roman, station, the Octapitarum of Ptolemy ; 
and here St. Patrick is said to have founded a 
monastery to the honour of St. Andrew in the 
year 470 : to this place St. David translated 
the archbishopric of Wales, from Caerleon, 
about the year 577, and founded the cathe- 
dral, which was afterwards dedicated to him ; 
but the primacy was withdrawn, and annexed 
to that of Canterbury, in the reign of Henry 
the First. Here also a college was founded 
for a master and seven priests by John Duke 
of Lancaster, in conjunction with his wife and 
the Bishop of the diocese, in the year 1569. 

At the extremity of St. David's promontory 
is a disjointed craig ; so large, that it is sup- 
posed a hundred oxen could not drag it away ; 

but 



CHAP. VI. FISHGUARD. 91 

but so placed on smaller stones, as to have 
been easily rocked by the pressure of a man's 
hand *. 

In. druidical ages, this formed the grand 
ordeal : if a man was to appear guilty, the 
priests managed that he should apply his pres- 
sure near the axis, and the stone remained 
immoveable ; but if his peace or priest offer- 
ings were deemed commensurate to his sins, 
he, was instructed to lean near the extremity, 
and it easily gave way. Near this head-land 
is Ramsay island, a fruitful little spot, and 
once particularly so in holiness, if we may 
credit ancient histories, which state that no less 
than twenty thousand saints lie interred in it. 
The dangerous rocks called the Bishop and 
his Clerks, near this island, are covered with 
wild fowl in the breeding season. 

The road continues on a barren tempestu- 
ous waste to Fishguard, a miserable fishing 
town, only remarkable for the late descent of 
1400 French invaders, who, after a few days 
possession of the neighbourhood, surrendered 
to the Welch peasantry, headed by Lord 
Cawdor. Newport, a few miles farther, is 

* The equilibrium is now destroyed. 

another 



92 NEVERN. CHAP. VI, 

another poor fishing town, at the bottom of a 
small bay : the ruined castle, seated on a 
Iiill above the town, was built by the Anglo- 
norman settlers in 1215, but afterwards nearly 
destroyed by Llewellyn. In Nevern church- 
yard, near Newport, is the shaft of a stone 
cross about thirteen feet high, curiously 
carved all over with scrolls and knots, At 
Pentere Evau, in Nevern parish, is a circle of 
rude stones, 1 SQ feet in circumference; in 
the midst whereof is a cromlech * of great 
dimensions : in the same parish is another 
altar monument, called Llectay-rdrybedh, 
having a furrow in the fiat stone, which 
might be to carry off the blood of the victims. 
In Grose's Antiquities, five stone altars are 
stated to be in this neighbourhood, and also 
four barrows ; one of which, on being opened, 
was found to contain five urns full of burnt 
bones. Nothing worthy of particular notice 
occurs from this spot to Cardigan. 

We projected an aquatic excursion, to ex- 
plore the scenery of the Tivy ; but, the tide 
not answering, we were obliged to desert the 
river for two or three miles, and proceed by 

* See p. 29. 

land 



chap. vr. kilgarran Castle. 9$ 

land to Kilgarran. The Tivy above Cardigan 
becomes environed by high hills, whose ar> 
proaching bases contract the bed of the river, 
changing its character from a broad and 
majestic, to an impetuous eddying stream : 
the sides of these hills rise from the water in 
almost perpendicular steepness, yet clothed 
with trees from the river's brink to their ridgy 
summits. In the tnidst of this imbowered 
glen, a naked rock, crowned with the truly 
picturesque remains of Kilgarran castle* 
proudly advances, and forms a striking con- 
trast to the dark rich verdure that prevails in 
the other accompany ments of the river. 

The position of Kilgarran castle is nearly 
on all sides self-defended ; but on the isthmus 
that connects the projecting rock with the 
main land, two ponderous round towers seem 
to have formerly defied the assault of war, as 
they now do that of pilfering dilapidation. 
The broken walls, watch-towers, and apart- 
ments that compose the minor parts of this 
fortress, bespeak it to have been of no great 
original extent, or highly ornamented ; yet 
the scattered relics, variously interwoven with 
ivy, offer an appearance from most points of 
view highly imposing and grand. 

The 



94* KILGARRAN CASTLE. CHAP. VU 

The foundation of the castle is uncertain, 
and the styles of different ages appear through- 
out the building. According to Carradoc, 
this fortress was erected about the year 1222, 
when Marshall Earl of Striquil (Chepstow) 
vanquished the Welch under their Prince 
Gruftydth, and gained an undisputed footing 
in these parts. The town of Kilgarran is 
diminished into one street, thinly inhabited 
bv labouring farmers and fishermen. 

In a romantic hollow, a mile or two higher 
up, the Tivy, throwing itself over a ledge of 
rock in one bold sheet, though not more 
than six feet in depth, forms a salmon leap 
generally esteemed the most remarkable in 
Wales. The salmon, in its course up the 
river, meeting with the fall, coils itself into 
a circle, and by a sudden distension springs 
up the precipice, and cleaves the torrent with 
astonishing vigour * ; yet it is frequently 
baffled, and greatly amuses the spectator with 
its repeated attempts to overleap the cataract. 
We were not entertained with this display of 
strength and agility on our visit, but were 
much interested by the curious means em- 

* Camden says, it often holds its tail between its teeth, to 
render its spring more immediate. 

ployed 



CHAP. VI. SALMON LEAP. §5 

ployed in catching the fish. The fisherman 
is seated in a sort of canoe, called a coracle, 
formed of open basket-work of thin laths, 
covered with a horse's hide, or a well-pitched 
piece of sail-cloth : the vessel is of a figure 
nearly oval, about four feet and a half long 
and three wide, yet so light as to be carried 
with ease on the man's shoulder from his 
home to the river : in this he whirls among 
the eddies of the river ; with a paddle in one 
hand, he alters or accelerates his course with 
surprizing dexterity; while with the other 
he manages the net, the line being held be- 
tween his teeth. In this way the fishing in 
most of the rivers of Wales -is pursued. Cora- 
cles have been peculiar to British rivers from 
time immemorial. Lucan very clearly de- 
scribes them ; and in latter times, Sir Walter 
Raleigh relates, that " the Britons had boats 
" made of willow twigs covered on the out- 
*' side with hides." 

Near the water-fall is a manufacture of iron 
and tinned plates, belonging to Sir Benjamin 
Hammet. Two or three miles higher up the 
river is Newcastle, a small irregular town 
situated upon its banks, and graced with the 
venerable ruins of a castle, but of no great 
7 antiquity. 



9G LECttRYD BRIDGE. CHAP; Vli 

antiquity. Thence a road of twenty mile? 
extends through a dreary uninteresting coun- 
try to Caermarthem 

A more romantic and sequestered pads 
than is traced beside " the hollow stream 
" that roars between the hills" from Lechryd 
bridge to Llangoedmor on the north mar-* 
gin of the river, can scarcely be ima- 
gined ; continuing upwards of two miles, 
beneath the umbrage of its high and well- 
wooded banks, and commanding delightful 
landscapes of the sombre kind at every turn. 
In the parish of Llangoedmor, we learned* 
there were several monuments of the druidical 
ages ; one is a remarkably large cromlech ; 
the flat stone being eight or nine yards in 
circumference, with one edge resting on the 
ground : there is a smaller monument of the 
same kind near it ; also a circle of rude stones 
about twelve yards round ; and five beds of 
loose stones, each about six feet over. Llechly 
gowress (the stone of a giantess) in the pa-* 
rish of Neuodh, also near Cardigan, is ano- 
ther very large cromlech ; and near it is 
a parcel of large hewn stones nineteen in 
number ; which, it is said by the vulgar, can* 
fcot be counted. 

CHAP. 



[ 91 ] 



CHAP. VlL 



LLANARTH ABEEAERON LLANSAN- 

FRIED — LLANRHYSTID AN ENQUI- 
RY INTO A STRANGE ASSERTED CUS- 
TOM RELATING TO THE MODE OF COURT- 
SHIP IN WALES LLANBADARN- 

VAWR — ABERISTWYTH, AND ITS CAS- 
TLE. 



W E left Cardigan oh the road to Aberist- 
wyth, and soon entered upon the same 
dreary kind of country that we noticed in the 
north and north-west of Pembrokeshire. At 
the poor village of Blaneporth, on the left of 
the road, is a large circular area encompassed 
by a mo&t, which is most probably the re- 
mains of a British fortification. Castel-Yn- 
dalig, a mile or two further, is a similar 
work, but much larger and less distinct* 

h Thence 



08 CARDIGAN BAY. CHAP. VII. 

Thence we began to ascend a tract of lofty 
hills (leaving Penrhyn church on our left 
near the sea- shore *), and, gaining a conside- 
rable eminence, enjoyed an uninterrupted 
view over the whole sweep of Cardigan's ex- 
tensive bay. This bay, from its southern li- 
mit, Strumblehead near Fishguard, stretch- 
ing northward, extends a vast gulph into 
North Y^alcs, and is at length terminated by 
Bardsey island in Caernarvonshire : it often 
proves a shelter to ships in the Irish trade, and 
contains several good harbours. The effect of 
this extensive display from the great elevations 
that we traversed was extremely striking ; 
stretching from beneath us to a remote 
horizon, exhibited a silvery surface of im- 
mense magnitude ; while the shores pre- 
sented an endless variety of bold advancing 
promontories, overhanging cliffs, and high 
swelling mountains wild and desolate ; yet 

* Near Penrhyn a British gold coin was found, of about 
equal weight with a guinea, a little hollowed on one side, 
and different from any of the coinage-of the Romans, or their 
successors : whence, and from other instances, it is inferred, 
that the Britons had gold and silver coin before the arrival of 
the Romans. In the church-yard is a large rough-hewn. 
stone, bearing an inscription that has not yet been inter- 
preted. 

here 



CHAP. VII. LLANARTH. 99 

here and there a stripe of green meadow ap- 
peared on a favoured slope, and a few woody- 
plantations disclosed themselves through pic- 
turesque hollows. In the distant boundary of 
Caernarvonshire, the projecting and receding 
hills about Pulhelly bay were conspicuous ; 
opposed to these, the superior magnitude of 
Cader-Idris arrested the attention, towering 
among the craggy summits of the Merioneth- 
shire mountains. From the bay our view 
roamed over a dreary uninteresting tract of 
country, to a ridge of mountains, whose 
broken outline mixing with the clouds de- 
fined the entrance of NpitH- Wales; where, 
proudly rising above competition, the confe- 
derated mountains, forming the pile of 
" Mighty Plinlimmon/' appear in all their 
majesty. 

The consideration of these distant objects, 
and the attention demanded by a stumbling 
horse, were my chief employments from 
Cardigan to Abcristwyth : yet the general te- 
diousness of our ride, upon a rocky track 
here called a turnpike, had some relief as we 
passed through Llanartii, a market-town, 
consisting of half a dozen huts seated in a 
romantic hollow; and Aberaeron, about 
h 2 four 



L. oi ^ 



100 ABERAERON. CHAP. Vll^ 

four miles further, a neat village near the sea- 
shore, pleasingly situated at the entrance of 
an abrupt well-wooded valley. Near its pic- 
turesque bridge there is a more comfortable 
inn than might be expected in so retired a si- 
tuation ; and, as it afterwards appeared, the 
only tolerable one between Cardigan and 
Aberistwyth. From this place the road, bor- 
dering the sea-shore, became more level ; 
and we soon came within view of the frag- 
ments of a castle on the beach, the greater 
part of which appears to have been washed 
away by the action of the sea. This fort was 
probably erected by the Normans to cover 
their landing or retreat, when, in the reign of 
William Rufus, they fitted out a fleet, and, 
descending on the coast of Cardiganshire, 
conquered or ravaged the maritime country 
to a considerable distance. Most of the prin- 
cipal towns then fell into their hands, upon 
which they affected the government ; but, 
as a measure of no less necessity than policy, 
assigned their power to Kadugan ap Bledin, 
a British chief of high authority, who strictly 
adhered to their interest. His son Owen 
however, rashly attacking the Normans and 
Flemings who had lately settled in the neigh- 
bouring 



CHAP. VII. LLANSANSFRIED. 101 

bouring territory southward, was, with his 
father, obliged to fly into Ireland. Henry 
the First then entrusted the country to Gil- 
bert Clare, who raised many fortifications 
within the district. Kadugan and his son 
Owen were nevertheless soon after restored to 
their lands ; but the son, committing fresh 
incursions, was slain by Gerald of Pembroke, 
whose wife Nestra he had carried away. Old 
Kadugan became a prisoner in England for a 
length of time, but was in the end restored to 
his estates ; when he was suddenly stabbed 
by his nephew Madok. Henry the Second 
afterwards gave this tract of country to Roger 
de Clare ; whose son Richard earl of Clare 
being slain in a contest with the Welch, 
Rhys, prince of South-Wales, attacked and 
vanquished the Anglo-Normans with great 
slaughter, and reduced them under his do- 
minion. But by degrees Cardigan returned 
to the hands of the English until the final 
conquest of the country by Edward the 
First. 

We soon after passed through the dreary 
village of Llansansfried, where a mo* 
nastery is conjectured to have existed ; and 
about two miles further entered Llan- 

h 3 RHYSTID, 



102 LLANRHYSTID, CHAP. VII. 

rhystid, which place is assigned to be the 
site of another. 

As we entered the latter village, " the 
dark mists of night" fell over us. We there- 
fore finished our day's journey at the Red 
Lion inn, a tolerably decent ale-house, where 
we were presently joined by a man in a la- 
bourer's habit, whom we had observed on 
the road in very gallant intercourse with a 
peasant girl, and had rallied on the occasion ; 
yet were we not a little surprized at finding 
him not only a man of extensive information, 
but a classical scholar and a well-bred gentle- 
man. On his leaving the room, we had an 
opportunity of enquiring who this character 
was, and learned from our landlord that he 
was a native 'squire, who lived about ten 
miles distant, who till lately had been in 
orders and officiated in London ; but on the 
death of his father had thrown off the gown 
and become a man of pleasure. " Though he 
is so shabbily dressed," said our host, " it is 
only a frolic, for he is a very able man," 
Now, as the term able in Wales is synony- 
mous with rich in other places, we enquired 
the amount of his income, and found it to be 
near a hundred a year. 

This 



CHAP. VII. WELCH COURTSHIP. 103 

This gentleman proved a most agreeable 
and useful companion during the evening ; 
but we were sorry to observe in him a pro- 
fessed Epicurean ; the gratification of his 
appetites he declared to be his great object, 
and defended his practice on what he termed 
the fundamental principles of nature ; nor 
was he in want of an ingenious sophism 
against every point of attack. We concluded 
that this gentleman's habits would qualify 
him with due knowledge on a singular custom 
that is said to prevail in Wales, relating to 
their mode of courtship ; which is declared 
to be carried on in bed ; and, what is more 
extraordinary, it is averred, that the moving 
tale of love is agitated in that situation without 
endangering a breach in the preliminaries. 
Mr. Pratt, in his " Gleanings," thus affirms 
himself an eye-witness of the process : "The 
14 servant-maid of the family I visited in Caer- 
" narvonshire happened to be the object of 
44 a young peasant, who walked eleven long 
44 miles every Sunday morning to favour his 
44 suit; he usually arrived in time for morn- 
44 ing's service, which he constantly attended; 
44 after which he escorted his dulcinea home 
44 to the house of her master, by whose per- 
H 4 " mission 



104 WELCH COURTSHIP. CHAP. VII, 

" mission they as constantly passed the sue-* 
-f ceeding hours in bed, according to the 
" custom of the country. This tender inter- 
" course continued without any interruption 
*' near two years, when the treaty of alliance 
" was solemn rzed." Our companion, like 
every one else that we spoke with in Wales 
on the subject, at once denied the existence 
of this custom : that maids in many instances 
admitted male bed-fellows, he did not doubt; 
but that the procedure was sanctioned by to- 
lerated custom he considered a gross misre- 
presentation. Yet in Anglesea and some parts 
of North Wales, where the original simplicity 
of manners and high sense of chastity of the 
natives is retained, he admitted something of 
the kind might appear. In those thinly in- 
habited districts, a peasant often has several 
miles to walk after the hours of labour, to 
visit his mistress ; those who have recipro- 
cally entertained the belle passion will easily 
imagine, that before the lovers grow tired of 
each other's company the night will be far 
enough advanced ; nor is it surprizing, that 
a tender-hearted damsel should be disinclined 
to turn her lover out over bogs and moun- 
tains until the dawn of day. The fact is, 

that 



CHAP. VII. DRUIDICAL RELICS. 105 

that under such circumstances she admits a 
consors lecti, but not in nudatum corpus. In 
a lowly Welch hut, this bedding has not the 
alarm of ceremony : from sitting or perhaps 
lying on the hearth, they have only to shift 
their quarters to a heap of straw or fern co- 
vered with two or three blankets in a neigh- 
bouring corner. The practice only takes 
place with this view of accommodation. 

At an early hour in the morning we left 
our " flinty couch" at Llanrhystid ; though 
rendered, by a day of healthful fatigue, " a 
thrice-driven bed of down ;" and, skirting 
the sea, resumed the views of the preceding 
day. Advancing about two miles, we re- 
marked, on a gentle eminence in a field to 
the left of the road, several rough-hewn 
stones patched over with the " moss of cen- 
turies :" two of these, remaining upright, are 
massive paralellopipeds, from eight to ten 
feet high, standing within a yard or two of 
each other; among the other stones lying 
about in different directions, I could trace 
no indication of a circle ; it has, however, 
been supposed to be a Druidical temple ; 
although the two upright stones might rather 
-eem to mark the "narrow house" of some de- 
parted 



106 LLANBADARN-VAWR. CHAP. VII. 

parted warrior. We soon after descended 
into the abrupt vale of Ystwith, and crossed 
its river over a picturesque bridge, venerably 
mantled with ivy *. Our route continued 
over the high ridgy hills that divide the pa- 
rallel vales of Ystwith and Rhydol, the latter 
of which presented an agreeable contrast to 
the dreary country through which we had 
travelled from within a few miles of Haver- 
fordwest. — Here, among extensive meadows 
of the richest verdure, the meandering Rhy- 
dol wantons its fantastic course. On a gentle 
eminence near its banks, in the midst of the 
valley, appears the embowered town of 
Llanbadarn-vawr, a picturesque though 
deserted spot, yet once a Roman city, and af- 
terwards the seat of an Episcopacy and Mo- 
nastery established by St. Paternus in the be- 
ginning of the sixth century. The church is 
yet a handsome building. Between this 
town and the sea-coast is a small ancient for- 
tification, consisting of a square area sur- 
rounded by a wail with a tower at one of the 

* At Lhanar, a small village two or three miles distant, 
en the riglit bank of the river, there was a Cistercian nun- 
nery, a cell to Starnower Abbey, or which I understand some 
imperfect vestiges remain. 

angles. 



CHAP. VII. ABERISTWYTH. 107 

angles. A range of wild hills, backed by the 
stupendous Plinlimmon, forms the opposite 
boundary of this valley ; and at its termina- 
tion in the sea-coast, the town of Aberistwyth 
appears in a very picturesque light en the 
brink of the sea, with its ruined castle on a 
gentle rise to the left. 

Aberistwyth is a less agreeable town on 
entering it, than as a distant object. Most 
of the streets are narrow and ill-paved ; and 
the stone used being of a black colour, gives 
the whole rather a dirty appearance ; but 
this remark is not applicable to some houses 
that have lately sprung up for the genteel 
company which resorts to it in the bathing- 
season. Nor must I mention the bathing at 
Aberistwyth, without observing, that it is con- 
ducted with more propriety than at any 
other watering-place that I have seen in Eng- 
land or Wales. The ladies' and gentlemen's 
machines are placed nearly a quarter of a 
mile asunder; and the indecency of promis- 
cuous dipping, so disgusting at more fashion- 
able resorts, is in consequence avoided : the 
bathing too is excellent, with a good sandy 
bottom at all hours of the tide. 

The 



108 ABERTSTWYTH CASTLE." CHAP. VII, 

The castle, seated on a craggy eminence 
projecting into the sea, westward of the 
town, is so much dilapidated, as scarcely to 
present a characterizing form : bat there is 
an agreeable public walk traced through the 
ruin, which commands a view of the sea and 
the neighbouring coast; with the little port 
(common to the Rhydol and Ystwith rivers) 
well filled with fishing vessels just below the 
cliff. This spot is also enlivened by a taste- 
ful residence of Lady Juliana Penn's, lately 
erected near the ruin, with much appropriate, 
effect, in the form of a gatehouse. Aberist- 
wyth castle was founded by Qilbert de Strong- 
bow, son of Richard de Clare, in the reign 
of Henry the First ; but soon after its erection 
it fell into the hands of the Welch princes* 
and was destroyed in their intestine quarrels. 
Powell says, that the present castle was built 
by Edward the First, anno 1277, a short 
time before the complete conquest of Wales. 
It appears to have been a strong place, as a 
garrison of King Charles maintained it for 
some time after his death. 

Among the mountains in the neighbour- 
hood of Aberistwyth, a number of lead and 

silver 



CHAP. VII. MINES. lC9 

silver mines were discovered about three 
centuries back ; and in the reign of Eliza- 
beth a company of Germans reaped a great 
fortune in the enterprize of working them. 
Sir Hugh Middleton, after them, was equally 
successful, netting 2000/. a month out of 
one silver mine. He was succeeded by a 
Mr. Bushel, who also gained immense profit 
from the works ; insomuch that in the civil 
wars he made King Charles a present of a 
regiment of horse, and clothed his whole 
army. The company of mine-adventurers 
worked these mines also with success, until 
they fell out among themselves, to their own 
injury, and that of the mining interest through- 
out the country; and I believe that these 
Works have been deserted ever since,. 



CHAP. 



[ no ] 



CHAP. VIII. 



barrier of north and south wales — - 
the devil's bridge grand cata- 
ract of the mynach cwm ystwith 

hills hafod ancient encamp- 
ments starflower abbey tre- 

garron roman antiquities at 

llandewi brevi lampeter llan- 

sawel edwin's ford — llandilo. 

W E were detained at Aberistwyth by the 
continuance of a violent rain which had 
deluged the neighbourhood for several days. 
At length a cessation of the storm allowed us 
to resume our journey, though not to per- 
form a projected excursion to the summit of 
Plinlimmon, which is only free from clouds 
in very fair weather. Returning up the hilly 
confines of the valley, we again admired the 
meandering Rhydol, and its gentle accom- 
panyment ; but following its course, as we 

advanced 




JT Barber deUn. 



JJ~eaJccs sad. 



^/z^-J/wtte 'vru6ze>. 



CHAP. VIII. DEVIL'S BRIDGE* 111 

advanced through a wild romantic district, 
the character of the valley soon changed ; 
dark wooded hills, aspiring to the dignity of 
mountains, advanced their shagged sides to- 
ward the stream, and, gradually closing to 
an impervious glen, shut up the river in their 
recess. Beyond these hills rose the broken 
line of mountains forming the termination of 
South Wales, where mighty Piinlimmon, 
lord of the boundary, raised his stupendous 
head in majestic desolation, though half con- 
cealed by eddying clouds : the whole scene 
exhibited unfettered nature in her wildest 
mood. A pouring rain that now fell over us 
circumscribed our desert prospects, while we 
proceeded over uncultivated hills, with 
scarcely a token of society, to the Devil's 
Bridge. 

The cataract that is here formed by the 
falls of the Mynach saluted us with its thun- 
dering roar, long ere we approached it ; but, 
as we drew near, the strong verberation, re- 
bellowed by surrounding cavernous rocks, 
seemed to convulse tire atmosphere ! We 
hastily put up our horses at the Ilafod arms, 
a solitary inn ; and in a few paces found our- 
selves on the bridge, suspended over a gulph 

at 



112 bEVll/s BRIDGE. CHAP. Villi 

at which even recollection shudders. This 
bridge bestrides a lane of almost perpendicular 
rocks, patched with Wood, whose summits 
are here scarcely five yards asunder. At a 
terrific depth in the glen rages unseen the 
impetuous Mynach, engulphed beneath pro- 
truding craigs and pendant foliage : but on 
looking over the parapet, the half-recoiling 
sight discovers the phrenzied torrent, in 
one volume of foam, bursting into light, 
and threatening, as it breaks against the 
opposing rocks, to tear the mountains from 
their strong foundations ; then* instantly dart- 
ing into the black abyss beneath, it leaves the 
imagination free to all the terrors of concealed 
danger. With emotions of awe, nor without 
those of fear, we climbed down the side of* 
the rock assisted by steps that were cut in it, 
and with some peril reached the level of the 
darkened torrent ; where, standing on a pro- 
jecting craig against which the river bounded/ 
immersed in its spray and deafened by its 
roar, we involuntarily clung to the rock. 
The impression of terror subsiding, left us at 
liberty to examine the features of the scene/ 
Nearly over our heads appeared the bridge at- 
tributed to the handy-works of the Devil; 

but 



CHAP. .VIII. FALLS OF THE MYNACH. 113. 

but a less cunning workman miedit have 
thrown an arch across a fissure of a few feet 
span; arid indeed the native mason who, 
about 50 years since, built the bridge now 
used, standing perpendicularly over the old 
one, has constructed the best arch of the 
two. The original bridge was built by. the 
Monks of Starflowcr Abbey near 700 years 
since. Nor is the singular appearance of these 
arches devoid of picturesque effect ; being 
tastefully besprinkled with verdure, and re- 
lieved by the intervention of numerous 
branchy trees: while the naked black op- 
posing cliffs, worn out into curious hollows 
by the torrents, exhibit as bold a rocky chasm 
as ever was traced by the pencil of Salvator. 

On climbing from this hollow, we pro- 
ceeded two or three hundred yards to the 
left of the bridge, and again descended a fear- 
ful track, to witness the grand falls of the 
Mynach. Under the direction of a guide, 
we reached the ordinary station with little dif- 
ficulty, where the view of the cataract dis- 
closed itself with considerable effect, in four se- 
parate cascades; though, from the great fall's 
being divided by the intervention of a project- 
ing rock, they appeared too much alike : the 

i eve 



11* FALLS OF THE MYNACH. CHAP. Vlll. 

eye, accustomed to picturesque- disposition > 
in vain sought to fix itself on a pre-eminent 
feature. I wished to get lower, but it seemed 
impracticable : emboldened, however, by 
the example of our guide, I clambered upon 
the edge of an immense perpendicular strata 
of rock, to nearly the lower channel of the 
torrent; when the cataract appeared in the 
most perfect disposition imaginable : the great 
fall displayed itself in uninterrupted supe- 
riority, and the lesser ones retired as subor- 
dinate parts. The perpendicular descent of 
this cataract is not less than two hundred and 
ten feet ; the first fall is not more than twenty 
feet ; the next increases to sixty ; the third 
diminishes to about tw r enty ; then, after ar 
momentary pause, the torrent bounds over a 
shelving rock in one tremendous fall of one 
hundred and ten feet, and soon unites with 
the Rhydol, here a similar mountain torrent. 
This grand cataract receives no inconside- 
rable augmentation of terrific appearance 
from the black stratified rocks forming the 
glen down which it thunders ; nor can the 
beholder, however firm his mind, divest 
himself of terror, while, near the bottom of 
an abyss for ever, denied a ray of sun; he 

views 




J.TBarbcr ddin. 



^%/b cpMe/^Umaais 



CtfAP. VIII. FALLS OF THE MYNACH. 115 

views the menacing torrent bursting before 
him ; or contemplates its foaming course 
tearing at his feet among craigs that its fury 
has disjoined. If he ventures to look up the 
acclivitous rock, more real danger threatens his 
return, when a devious balance or false step 
would ensure his certain destruction. Yet from 
the horrorsof this gloomy chasm some favoured 
projections relieve the imagination, orna- 
mented by the light and tasteful penciling of 
the mountain ash, intermixed with vigorous 
sapling oaks ; while here and there a tree of 
riper years, unable to derive support from 
the scanty sdil, falls in premature decay a 
prostrate ruin . — I have seen water-falls more 
picturesquely grand than the cataract of the 
Mynach, but none more awfully so, not 
even excepting the celebrated falls of Low- 
dore and Scaleforce in Cumberland^ 

Climbing from this scene of terrors, I- re- 
joined my companion, and at the Hafod 
Arms obtained a change of clothes ; a com- 
fort which, although wet to the skin for 
several hours,, I should still longer have de 
nied myself, had not the approach of night 
forced me from the Mynach's interesting 
scenery. Our active hostess quickly 'pro- 

i 2 vided 



11(5 . FALLS OF THE MYNACH. CHAP. VIII. 

vided a tolerable dinner of mutton chops ; 
and, cheered by a good peat-fire and a bottle 
of wine, we listened to the torrent's roar 
without dismay. On the following morning 
we did not neglect to revisit the romantic 
glen. The weather was fine; and, the ef- 
fect of the late rains having subsided, the 
bulk of the torrent had much diminished ; 
yet did the scene gain in beauty what it lost 
in terrific grandeur; for the intermingling 
foliage, darting from opposite sides of the 
glen, and reflecting various tints and degrees 
of light, softened the asperitous black rocks, 
and spread a lively net-work over the gloom. 
Upon our preparing for the renewal of our 
journey, a material difficulty occurred ; my 
poney was so completely knocked up, that 
he had not, as the jockeys phrase it, " a leg 
" to stand on." The alternative in this case 
was to buy another ; and upon enquiry I 
found that my landlord had one to dispose of, 
which was forthwith produced. This was 
a good-sized poney, with plenty of bone, 
but ill-made ; he had, however, an excel- 
lent character: his knees too were sadly 
broken; but a circumstantial tale shewed that 
to be the effect of accident, and not. habitual 

awkward- 



CHAP. VIII. CWM YSTWITH HILL. 117: 

awkwardness: upon the whole, he did not 
seem clear at the price demanded, which was 
only five guineas : a bargain was therefore 
struck, the saddle transferred from the in- 
valid to the back of my new purchase ; and 
after given directions for the return of the 
former, which by the way incurred an ex- 
pence more than his value, we set forward 
for the celebrated grounds of Hafod, about 
two miles distant. 

Our road lay on the steep bank of the 
Mynach, commanding a full view of the 
glen, and its romantic bridge. Then ascend- 
ing the Cwm Ystwith hill, through a current 
of clouds, we gained from its summit an un- 
interrupted view of the whole range of North 
Walean mountains, stretching from the English 
counties to the great bay of Cardigan : the 
intervening hollows were concealed by fields 
of mist; so that the uncultivated heights ex- 
hibited a scene as rugged as when 



Nature first xnade man, 



(C Ere the base laws of servitude began, 

f * And wild in woods the noble savage ran." 

We now took a farewel view of the 
Mynach's glen, and quitted its interesting 
scenery with such sensations as one feels in 

i 3 losing 



11:3 HAFOD. CHAP. VIII. 

losing a friend whose intercourse lias afforded 
both pleasure and improvement. We then 
descended to the vale of Ystwith, but un- 
enlivened by its scenery, for a morning mist 
floated through the valley and spread a veil 
over its charms. A handsome park gate an- 
nounced the ^entrance of Hafod, and the 
thundering of an unseen waterfall formed a 
grand, symphony to the spectacle that we 
were soon to witness. — Almost immediately 
the cloud of mist disappeared, rising like a 
huge curtain before us, and discovered such 
an assemblage of .beauties* of cheerful walks 
ana! silent glens, of woody precipices, shadowy 
glades, garden thickets and waterfalls, that, 
considered with the barren wilds of the sur- 
rounding country, it seemed a second Para- 
dise rising from a newly-subsided chaos. 
This charming place, occupying a deep 
narrow valley, watered by the Ystwith, is 
the creation of Col. Johnes, whose perse- 
vering genius has forced a mantle -of wood 
upon rocky precipices where nature seemed 
to deny the access of verdure, and who in 
his elegant and useful projects of further im- 
provement gives employment to the country 
around. Upon a spot judiciously chosen, 

where 



OJiAP. VIII, * ■- HAFOJTX 119 

where the banks of the valley gently incline, 
and the coverture of lofty woods afford a shel- 
ter from the north-eastern winds, stands the 
mansion, with a sloping lawn in front, com- 
manding a comprehensive view of the en- 
chanting valley ; which if Dryden could but 
see, he w r ould wish to recall the line, 

'* God never made his works for man to mend." 

"On putting ourselves under the direction of 
the gardener, w r e were first led to the kitchen-, 
garden, furnished with extensive forcing- 
houses, and replete with every necessary ap- 
pendage. The flower-garden also displayed, 
its appropriate charms; but from these ar- 
chie vements of art we turned, without regret* 
to where the bold hand of nature reared the 
scene iri stupendous majesty ; 

" There along the dale, 
i( With, woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks^ 
" Where on each hand the gushing waters play, 
f* And down the rough cascade white dashing fall," 

we passed, enamoured with the incessant 
though congen ial variety o£ our subject. After 
visiting the cold bath, a small sequestered 
building, a mazy walk romantically traced by 
the side of a brawling torrent, and amidst 

i 4 tangled 



120 HAFOD. CHAP. VII?. 

tansrlcd shrubberies, led to a small cas- 
cade; and soon after a superior waterfall en- 
gaged our attention, where the whole vo- 
lume of the Ystwith burst over a ledge of 
rocks in a composition truly grand and pic- 
turesque. But a scene of awful sublimity 
disclosed itself on exploring a dark cavernous 
passage in a rock and reaching its extremity, 
where a lofty cascade of transcendent beauty, 
throwing itself over a strata of black rocks, 
bounded close to the opening of the cave, and 
shrouded the aperture with its spray, as it be- 
came engulphed in a dark chasm beneath. 

The towering mountains clothed with my- 
riads of oaks, which environ this remark- 
able valley, afford a diversity of walks and 
combinations of view, to describe which 
words would be inadequate, and prove at 
best but tedious. A walk of twelve mijes 
scarcely comprises a complete survey of the 
grounds, as we are told ; but, being pressed 
for time, our perambulation was confined to 
a much smaller space ; yet enough was seen 
to convince us that this is one of the most de- 
lightful rural retreats in the kingdom. 

The mansion is a handsome modern edi- 
fice ; . in the Gothic style of architecture ; 

which 



CHAP. VIII. HAFOD. 121 

which idea is perfectly consonant with the 
romantic cast of the scenery ; and the general 
outline of the building is certainly pleasing : 
but w r e were sorry that Col. Johnes had 
not been better advised in tl>e execution of 
this design, which though we had read of, in 
one place, as built " in the most correct 
taste" and in another as " a mansion in the 
Italian style," we found to be a heterogeneous 
jumble ; wherein a bastard sort of Greek 
and Saxon architecture was blended with the 
prevailing Gothic. The house internally we 
understood to be richly fitted up, and fur- 
nished with an excellent library, but did not 
visit it ; for, though the demand of five 
shillings for the gardener's attendance was 
willingly paid, yet the same sum, w r hich we 
found would be required by the housekeeper, 
appeared to us more than the show of any 
Welch house was worth,. 

There always appears to me something 
very unworthy in great men allowing their 
servants to exact the sums that they do from 
the spectators of their grandeur ; but, such 
emoluments are taken into the account of a 
servant's hire, and in some measure con- 
tribute to the support of the great man's es- 
tablishment : 



122 STARFLOWER ABBEY. CHAP. VliX,, 

tablishment : as far as they do this, they in- 
directly form part of his revenue; and in 
that view I consider the Grandee as somewhat 
of a mercenary showman, however mag~ 
nifique : . ' 

A ride of nearly a mile extent, among de- 
lightful plantations, led us out of Hafod ; 
when, crossing the Ystwith over a good stone 
bridge, we soon passed through a little ro- 
mantic village on the road to Tregarron, from 
whence the country continued wild, without 
grandeur or interest, a succession of 

*' Barren heaths,, and rushy meers," 

until the approach to Llandilo. In this mid- 
land route the hills were much less conti- 
nuous than round the coast, and the valleys 
frequently extensive ; but, overrun with peat- 
bogs, they neither displayed fertility nor 
beauty. About half way to Tregarron, a few 
hundred yards to the right of the road, were 
two considerable hills, each crowned with a 
large ancient encampment : we did not stop 
to examine them, but quickly turned off the 
road, over moorlands on our left, in search of the 
remains of Starflower or Strata Florida 
Abbey. We had no track to direct us; nor 
' ' ; ' did 



CHAP. VIII, XREGARRON, 123 

did a human creature appear for many miles : 
after a fruitless wandering, therefore, we 
gave up the object, with this consolation* 
that almost the only relic remaining is an or- 
namented circularly-arched .. gateway. Yet 
was this place, now lost, in a trackless desert, 
once of high importance. Strata Florida 
Abbey (in British, Miinachlog Ystrad flur) 
was founded anno 1 1 64< for Cistertian Monks* 
by Rhesus Prince of South-Wales. In it 
many of the Welch Princes were buried; and 
tlieir acts kept and recorded : it suffered con- 
siderably when Edward the First overran 
Wales, but was soon after repaired. 

A sloppy ride brought us to Tregarron; 
a poor straggling ill-built town, situated in an 
abrupt hollow watered by&n arm of the Tivy; 
yet, plentifully interspersed with trees, it 
forms a pleasing relief to the surrounding 
dreariness. Its church is a respectable old 
building, and it boasts the dignity of a mayor. 
Our inn here afforded us a capacious dish of 
eggs and bacon for dinner ; but, though it was 
not more than ordinarily strong and greasy for 
the wilds of Wales, we grew delicate, and, 

* According to Tanner, Leland/ and Dugdale. Camden 
says it was for Cluniacs, 

leaving 



124* LANDEWI-BREVI. CHAP- VIII. 

leaving our meal almost untasted, pursued 
our journey on the turnpike road to Lam- 
peter. About three miles from Tregarron, 
immediately on the left of the road, we ob- 
served a large mound encircled by a moat ; 
but could not determine whether it was the 
site of an antient citadel, or monumental of 
a deceased chieftain. In the same neigh- 
bourhood is the church of Landewi-Brevi, 
where in 522, at a Holy Synod, St. David 
opposed the opinions of the Pelagians. A 
prodigious petrified horn which is shewn at 
the church is said to have remained there 
from that time ; and in the year 1187 Bishop 
Beck founded a college on the spot. Several 
Roman inscribed stones appear in and about; 
die church ; but at a place some distance 
southward of it, called Kaer Kestilh (the 
field of the castles), a great number have at 
various times been discovered, as also coins 
and Roman bricks. Dr. Gibson considers 
tliis to be the Lovantinum of Ptolemy, in 
which opinion he is followed by Mr. Plorsley: 
Yet is this spot, the site of a Roman town,. 
and once occupied by its legions, now with 
difficulty traced among barren fields remote 
from habitation : 



CHAP. VIII, LAMPETER. 1 2i? 

<4 No busy steps the grass-grown foot-way taead, 
" But all the bloomy flush of life is fled." 

From a fatiguing day's journey we gladly 
reposed at a better inn than might be expected 
in so poor a town as Lampeter ; and the 
following morning sallied forth to visit a large 
old seat of Sir Robert Lloyd's ; which, we 
learned, " exhibited a striking appearance 
V with its four great towers crowned with 
* c domes in the midst of well-planted inclosures, 
*' but now scarcely inhabited." A thick mist 
denied us this view ; so, crossing the long 
old bridge of Lampeter, we entered Caer- 
marthenshire on our way to Llandilo. No- 
thing can be imagined more dreary than the 
first half of this ride ; lying over an extensive 
range of lumpy hills, as remote from any 
thing picturesque as profitable. No tree, not 
a bush could be seen ; and as we mournfully 
looked round, where, except the miserable 
road on which we travelled, no trace of 
society appeared, our disgusted sight would 
have even rested with pleasure on a furze bush* 
From such a region of sterility we gladly 
caught a gleam of cultivation, in some dis- 
tant hills bordering on Brecknockshire ; but 
more gladly still, on a sudden turn, we 

looked 



126 EDWIN'S-FORD. CHAP. Villi 

looked down on the pleasing' little valley 
LlansAwel, watered by a crystaline branch 
of the Cothy. The sun had now dispersed 
the mists through which we set out, and 
shone direct on the vale : from its verdant 
level high hills, enjoying different degrees of 
cultivation, rose on every side ; and under 
one of them, at the further end of the valley, 
the well- whitened village sparkled through 
the intervening foliage. 

This valley was immediately succeeded by 
another called Edwin' s-ford, a delightful 
spot, whose high encircling hills are clothed 
with extensive plantations to their very summits, 
111 the bottom, is a large old manor house 
belonging to Colonel Williams, beautified 
" above, below, around, " with leaden mer- 
curies, shepherdesses, and sportsmen. Yet 
is this place, remaining in the genuine style 
of King William's reign, with all its absurdi- 
ties, more interesting, as shewing us a speci- 
men of that time, than if it were patched up 
with modern improvements ; or a new villa> 
of the packing-case mode of building that now 
prevails. We rode through the long avenues 
of trees that extend from the house; and, 
quitting the valley, descended to another, 

pleasingly 



fcHAP. VIII. LLANDILO. 12? 

pleasingly decorated with wood, and the 
ruin of Talley church. A cheerful road, 
lined with 

" Hedge-row elms and coppice green/' 

now led us through a succession of swells and 
hollows, adorned with numerous plantations, 
particularly those of Lord Robert Seymour 
Conway's, to Llandilo, a pretty market 
town, seated on a descent to the justly-famed 
vale of Towey. 



CHAP, 



[ 128 ] 



CHAP. IX. 



CHARMING VALE OF TOWEY DINEVAWR 

CASTLE ■ GOLDEN GROVE GRONGAR 

HILL— MIDDLETON HALL CAREG-CAN- 

NON CASTLE REFLECTIONS AT A FORD 

GLENHEIR WATERFALL ■*— AN ACCI- 
DENT PONT AR DULAS RETURN TO 

SWANSEA. 



AT Landilo we hastily put up our horses, 
anxious to feast on the beauties that disclosed 
themselves as we approached the spot ; and, 
learning that Newton Park, the delightful 
seat of Lord Dinevawr, afforded the most 
extensive and picturesque views of the vale, 
we engaged the keeper's attendance, and 
proceeded among waving lawns and woody 
gnolls to a bold hill, where, 

" Bosom'd high in tufted trees/' 

appeared the picturesque remains of Dine- 
vawr castle. A winding path, cut through 

the 




^ 



CHAP. IX. VALE OF TOWEY. 129 

the leafy honours of this hill, conveyed us 
beneath their dark umbrage to the top. We 
here climbed a massy fragment of the ruin, 
and entered a falling apartment, which, ac- 
cording to our guide's information, was once 
the lady's dressing-room ; where, reaching a 
Gothic window overhung with ivy, a pros- 
pect burst upon us, teeming with the most 
fascinating circumstances of verdant nature ; 
a galaxy of picturesque beauty, at which re- 
membrance becomes entranced, and descrip- 
tion faulters ! Immediately beneath, the ex- 
pansive vale of Towey appears in the fullest 
display of its charms; a hue of the richest 
green marks the luxuriance of the soil through 
the course of the valley, which, continually 
intersected with dusky hedge-rows, boasts all 
the elegance of garden parterres. The trans- 
lucid Towey here wantons in perpetual variety 
among gay meadows and embowering plan- 
tations, where the eye with pleasure traces 
its fantastic meanders until they disappear be- 
hind projecting groves. The rich wood that 
surrounds the castellated hill clothes a precipi- 
tous descent to the water's edge, and, with 
other sylyan decorations of Newton park, 
forms the nearmost boundary of the vale. 

k On 



130 GRONGAR HILL. CHAP. IX. 

On the opposite side, a huge wild mountain 
rears its head in desolation to the clouds ; and 
beneath it Golden Grove *, despoiled of its 
leafy grandeur, now appears in diminished 
beauty. Several smaller seats and whitened 
hamlets start up in the valley, and, glistening 
through their appendant groves, give life to 
the scene. A little westward, Grongar hill, 
immortalized by the muse of Dyer, and now 
the property of one of his descendants, ad- 
vances on the vale and partly turns its course ; 
but at some distance further, a rugged hill, 
bearing the mouldering fragments of Grus- 
lwyn castle, proudly bestrides the plain and 
terminates the picture. Our view of this scene 
was favoured by the departing sun, which, 
just setting behind Gruslwyn ruin, threw 
a glowing tint over the landscape ; its golden 
effulgence shone strongly on the varied hills, 
and gleamed on the lofty groves that adorned 

f The mansion of Mr. Vaughan, the greatest landholder in 
Caermarthenshire. We did not visit this seat, or Middleton 
hall, also southward of the valley a few miles nearer Caer- 
marthen, but without commanding any of its beauties. The- 
latter place, built a few years since by Mr. Paxton, formerly 
a banker at Bengal, I understand to be the most splendid 
• specimen of modern architecture in Wales > but, unfortunate, 
in its situation, it is already neglected. 

the 



CHAP. IX. DINEVAWR CASTLE. 131 

the vale ; though the greater part of it was 
obscured in grandly-projected shadows *. 

After a week's journey through an exten- 
sive, tract of country, with few exceptions as 
devoid of picturesque interest as of productive- 
ness, to come at once upon a scene so preg- 
nant with the bounty and beauty of nature, was 
a feast for the feelings of philanthropy and 
picturesque enthusiasm that I shall never for- 
get ; nor do I imagine that the coldest mortal 
could fail of feeling a lively interest in so de- 
lightful a change — We 

" — cast a longing lingering look behind" 

on leaving this scene to examine the ruined 
castle. The extent of the apparent remains 
would lead one to consider it as a place of 
small importance ; but we traced the vestiges 
of a wall and ditch at some distance from the 
conspicuous ruin, which indicate it to have 
been of considerable dimensions. The most 

* The ruins of Druslwyn castle occupy a bold conical hill 
about half-way between Llandilo and Caermarthen, in the 
vale of To wey. Nearer Caermarthen, until lately, stood the 
venerable remains of Green castle, built by Uchtred, prince 
of Merionethshire, in n^8j but the ruin is now reduced to 
a few unimportant walls : both these fragments of antiquity 
are within view of the road. 

k 2 notice- 



132 DINEVAWR CASTLE. CHAP. IX. 

noticeable parts are, the apartment already 
mentioned; a massive round tower, the an- 
cient keep ; and a subterraneous passage. Gi- 
raldus saw a castle here ; but that was de- 
stroyed in the year 1194, about six years 
after his Itinerary ; it was, however, soon 
rebuilt, and became the royal seat of the 
Princes of South Wales ; but frequently 
changed its masters, until it fell to the crown 
of England. Henry the Vllth made a grant 
of it to Sir Rice ap Thomas, Knight of the 
Garter, a lineal descendant of the Welch 
Princes, and ancestor of the present proprietor. 
It was inhabited until within these 50 years, 
when the combustible part of it was de- 
stroyed by ■fire.. 

The mansion, built on a level about half 
a mile from the castle, is a large quadran- 
gular, structure, with turrets at each corner 
crowned with domes : it has lately been 
modernized ; but appears to have been found- 
ed about two centuries back. — An avenue of 
trees extended from hence to the castle, which 
has lately been broken into clumps, in har- 
mony with the general laying-out of the park. 
The hills of its strongly undulating surface are 
profusely covered with wood, and the hol- 
lows 



CHAP. IX. NEWTON PARK. 133 

lows enjoy a luxuriance of pasturage that can 
scarcely be equalled. On looking down 
some of these knolls, there appears no poeti- 
cal licence in Dyer's description : 

" Below me trees unnumber'd rise, 

" Beautiful in various dyes : 

" The gloomy pines, the poplar blue, 

tc The yellow beech, the sable yew, 

•* The slender fir that taper grows, 

" The sturdy oak with broad-spread boughs j 

rt And beyond the purple grove, 

" Haunt of Phyllis, Queen of Love !" 

We often regretted that the picturesque ruin 
of the castle was excluded from our view by 
the lofty trees that surround it : the laudable 
jealousy with which Lord Dinevawr preserves 
the woody embellishments of his park ap- 
peared to us as extending too far in this in- 
stance; for were a few openings introduced, 
so as to exhibit from various points the grand 
dimensions of some ivied towers, a fine effect 
might be produced, and a picturesque con- 
trast obtained to the numerous woody swells 
that abound in this beautiful domain. 

The morning that we left Llandilo brought 
with it a scene of affliction to the surrounding 
country : one of those deluging rains which 
often do so much mischief m mountainous 

k 3 countries 



134 A ST6RM, CHAP. it. 

countries fell with unparalleled violence dur- 
ing the night ; when the vast accession of 
water, unable to discharge itself by the or- 
dinary channels, swept away trees, fences, 
small buildings, cattle, and poultry in its 
devious course. Several mills were destroyed ; 
and many an industrious cottager, awakened 
by the flood eddying round his bed, saw 
himself at once dispossessed of the fruits of 
many years hard savings : 

" Fled to some eminence,, the husbandman 

€< Helpless beheld the miserable wreck 

ic Driving along j his drowning ox at once 

" Descending, with his labours scatter'd round, 

tc He saw 5 and instant o'er his shivering thought 

'■* Came winter unprovided, and a train 

<( Of clamant children dear." 

On the storm's abating, we renewed our 
journey, and, over a handsome stone bridge 
crossing the swollen ToWey, which had ac- 
quired a frightful hue from the red marie of 
the neighbouring lands, followed its course 
upon the road to Llaftgadock. At the first 
turnpike We deviated to the right, up a steep 
track rendered almost impracticable by loose 
craigs, by the side of a romantic dingle, 
down Whose dark hollow a small cascade 
trickled with very good effect. In our as- 
cent. 



CHAP. IX. TALIARIS PARK. 135 

cent, delightful views were obtained of the 
upper vale of Towey, stretching from Llan- 
dilo bridge to the vicinage of Llandovery. 
The distant groves of Taliaris and Abermarle 
parks adorned this view, which was only in- 
ferior to that from Dinevawr-castle. As w r e 
advanced further, the rich prospect with- 
drew, and we found ourselves entering upon 
the dreary wilds of the Black Mountains ; our 
track then became indistinct, wandering among 
rocks, floods, and up-rooted trees, unenlivened 
by a single habitation or human face. At 
length a cottage appeared, and we enquired 
our way to Careg-eannon castle ; but " Dim 
(( Sarsnic *" was all we could gather from the 
inhabitants. Thus constrained to proceed at 
random, we mounted a precipitous hill over 
a track that formed the bed of a -torrent, and 
discovered the object of our search upon a 
bold rock, a considerable distance on our 

* cc Dim Sarsnic" (no Saxon) is a common expression, 
groundedon their anciently confounding all foreigners with their 
mortal enemies the Saxons ; as the lower class in England con- 
sider every foreigner a Frenchman. This is said to be con- 
nected with a marked dislike and incivility to strangers ; yet, 
so far as my observations extend, a greater disposition to acts 
of kindness is not to be met with in any part of the kingdom 
than in South Wales. 

K 4 right : 



136 CAREG-CANNON CASTLE, CHAP. IX. 

right : a little Welch farmer was also com- 
prized in this view, working hard to repair 
the damages of the storm. We again en- 
quired the best road to pursue, and again were 
answered with " Dim Sarsnie ;" he, how- 
ever, signified to us that he would fetch some 
one, and accordingly ran over two or three 
fields, and returned with his daughter, a fine 
buxom girl who had picked up a little Eng- 
lish at Llandilo market. Without intreaty 
she offered to be our guide ; and, fixing in 
the ground a spade with which she had been 
clearing a water-course, blythely led us, 
through mountainous wilds, within a short 
distance of the object of our search. 

As we ascended the rock, crowned with 
the frowning ruin of Careg-cannon castle, a 
tempestuous cloud that broke against it drenched 
us with a plentiful shower : we sought the 
shelter of the building, but the wind raged 
with such violence, that we shrunk from the 
mouldering battlements lest they should over- 
whelm us. On crossing the ruin through its 
" stormy halls/' we again recoiled on finding 
ourselves upon the brink of a tremendous pre- 
cipice, which, except on the side by which 
we ascended, encompasses the castle in a per- 
pendicular 



CHAP. IX. CAREG-CANNON CASTLE. 137 

pendicular rocky cliff upwards of four hun- 
dred feet in height. Then climbing among 
the mossy fragments of the castle, we disco- 
vered an aperture in the ground connected 
with a long subterraneous gallery dug through 
the solid rock, and lighted by windows cut 
in the cliff, though not visible from any si- 
tuation without. In exploring this strange 
recess, rendered more fearful by the loud 
shrieks of the wind, we advanced, not with- 
out sensations of awe : it terminated in a 
large gloomy cavern, fit scene for 

(C Murders, rapes, and massacres, 
<c Acts of black night, abominable deeds, - 
" Complots of mischiefs, treason, villanies 
" Ruthful to hear." 

In this place we waited the passing of the 
storm, conjecturing it to have continued for- 
merly to some adjacent spot, so as to form a 
sally-port or secret communication from the 
castle. On our return we felt more at liberty 
to examine the features of the ruin, which 
proved of the simplest construction, totally 
without ornament or a single Gothic form, 
and consisting of one irregular court with 
towers at each angle. If the Britons had any 
castles of stone before the arrival of the Nor- 
mans 




13$ A FORD. CHAT. IX. 

mans (a fact doubted by some antiquaries), I 
should imagine this to be one ; although a 
late tourist, I know not on what authority* 
ascribes its erection to the time of Henry the 
First. The position must have been formerly 
impregnable, and its rough aspect marks it to 
have been constructed for the mere business 
of war. By 

— — - — - a lonely tower, 



whose mournful chambers hold, 



To night-struck Fancy dreams, the yelling Ghost, 

we passed from this wild abode, and floun- 
dered among ditch-like tracks to recover the 
high road from Llandilo to Swansea. In a 
romantic hollow we were stopped by a branch 
of the Towey ; which, though in ordinary 
times an inconsiderable rivulet, was now 
swelled to a deep and menacing torrent. 
Here we found a party of men and women 
peasants on the opposite side, in doubt whe- 
ther it might be safely crossed ; but at length, 
one of the men stripped and waded over, 
thus satisfying us that the ford was practicable. 
The rest followed ; the men first getting rid 
of the lower part of their dress ;. — a trouble 
avoided by the females, who, unused to the 
encumbrance of shoes and stockings, had: 

only 



CHAP. IX. A FORD. 139 

only to hold up their clothes to the highest 
extent; and, thus prepared, the whole party 
moved toward us. Viewing this remnant of 
barbarity with disgust, we at the same time 
felt uneasy for the situation of the girls : but 
we might have spared ourselves that pain ; 
their countenances proved them to be unem- 
barrassed by the consciousness of shame ; 
nor did their eyes wander from the precise 
line in which they were going. The trans- 
action was to them a matter of perfect in- 
difference. 

It may reasonably be supposed, that the 
indecent customs of the Welch operate against 
the observance of chastity : yet seeing that 
the Welch are by no means deficient in that 
excellence, it may be supposed that were such 
scenes less frequent they would be so ; but, 
as they are continually recurring, the imagi- 
nation has no time to effervesce ; it is at once 
saturated with naked facts, and on that prin- 
ciple the ebullitions of passion are kept under. 
On the one hand, those strong bulwarks de- 
cency and delicacy are done away ; but on 
the other, the mind, fully informed, is not 
irritated by the conjurations of fancy ; which 
may be a pretty fair set-off. Yet, without 

doubtj 



140 GLEN-HEIR. WATERFALL. CHAP. IX. 

doubt, their strongest safeguard exists in the 
considerative defence ; for the moral turpi- 
tude and political, infamy of unchastity is re- 
cognized in Wales to an extent that can 
hardly be conceived in circles of- modern re- 
finement : even at this day, in districts not 
yet drawn within the imposing vortex of 
trade*, a golden age of innocence maybe 
discovered, where bastardy is unknown, or 
known but in recorded instances, in which 
the man is properly consigned to equal dis- 
grace with the female offender. 

Our travelling continued in rocky tracks, 
at the rate of a mile an hour, until we reco- 
vered the Llandilo road ; from w 7 hich we 
soon turned off, on the right, to visit Glen- 
hci'r waterfall, in the grounds of Mr* Du- 

* Along with the degeneracy of social affections, manly 
prowess, and' other noble affections, that hang on nations 
and places absorbed in the pursuit of trade, the dereliction of 
chastity is greatly conspicuous. In Manchester, for ex- 
ample, an almost promiscuous intercourse prevails in the 
great class of the people : insomuch that the Magistrates at- 
tempt to check the increase of bastard children by inflicting 
stripes and imprisonment on the women who bear above a 
certain number ! But why enumerate particular instances of 
the debasing tendency of too much trade, when the history 
of the world furnishes abundant proofs to establish the fact 
as an axiom. 

baison, 



CHAP. IX. GLEN-HEIR WATERFALL. 141 

baison, about five miles south of Llandilo. 
At this place the Loughor river pursues its 
course between steep banks clothed with va- 
rious trees and shrubs. On one of the de- 
scents a walk is traced, with some ingenuity, 
in front of a small picturesque cascade formed 
by a tributary stream to the Loughor. This 
might be mistaken for the object sought ; but, 
crossing a rustic bridge, the eye on a sudden 
encounters the whole river rushing beneath a 
portal of trees, and throwing itself over a 
ledge of black rock in a single fall of eighteen 
feet. The effect of the whole, seen through 
the gloom of pendent trees, is undoubtedly 
striking; though, it must be confessed," the 
sheet of water presenting the formality of an 
unbroken square is somewhat un picturesque. 
The person who attended us pointed out the 
effects of the torrent at fifteen feet above its 
surface, to which height it was swelled in the 
morning by the late storm ; a greater rise 
than was ever known before: the cataract 
then exhibited a scene more tremendously 
grand than imagination can picture, or words 
describe ; yet some idea may be formed in 
conceiving so vast a bulk of water, bursting 
over the precipice, stunning with its roar, 

and 



142 AN ACCIDENT. CHAP. IX. 

and filling the atmosphere with its spray; 
while up-rooted trees, the shattered fragments 
of buildings, and other ruins, swept headlong 
on by the irresistible torrent, would illustrate 
its terrors, and complete a spectacle great 
indeed ! Yet, alas, at how high a purchase, 
appeared from the lamentations of the neigh- 
bourhood ! Nor were we without a share in 
the general calamity ; for, crossing the 
Loughor at a ford about two miles further, 
my poney on a sudden slipped out of his 
depth, and we had separately to swim for our 
lives to the opposite bank. This disagreeable 
business was much aggravated ; for my books, 
papers, and some other articles which I car- 
ried in a leather-case behind the saddle, were 
completely soaked, and several drawings ut- 
terly spoiled. My companion, having a 
taller horse, escaped, with only his boots full 
of water. Here it may not be amiss to ap- 
prize the traveller through Wales, that these 
fords (frequently occurring) are not unat- 
tended with danger after great falls of rain : 
at such times, a careful enquiry should be 
made of the people near them ; a precaution 
that would have saved us our ducking ; for 
it afterwards appeared, that no other travellers 

had 



CHAP. IX. PONT-AR-DULAS. 143 

•had crossed the ford during the day, but 
avoided it by taking a circuitous route. 

In this plight we jogged on upwards of 
eight miles, with the unwelcome gloom of 
the Black Mountains on our left, and a plea- 
sant diversified country on our right, to the 
village of Pont-ar-dulas, but which we did 
not reach before evening. The comfortable 
inn at this place afforded us a change of ap- 
parel and good cheer, that soon dissipated the 
inconveniences of our journey. On the fol- 
lowing morning w T e rose early, and then 
found the place to possess many traits of pic- 
turesque attraction, being seated near a rapid 
river, and agreeably interspersed with woods. 
Thence we had a pleasant ride to Swansea; 
where we rejoined a party of our friends at 
breakfast, after a fortnight's excursion. 

During our stay in this town, protracted 
to several days by its agreeable society, 
Mrs. Hatton, mistress of the bathing-house, 
and sister of the English Melpomene, exhi- 
bited her theatric powers on the humble 
boards of Swansea theatre. But, labouring 
under the misfortune of lameness, and the 
encumbrance of more human flesh than I 
ever before saw crowded in one female figure, 

she 



144 RETURN TO SWANSEA. CHAP. IX, 

she was obliged to go through her task, the 
recitation of Alexander's Feast, sitting : not- 
withstanding which weighty drawback, the 
lady did not fail to exhibit a vivid tincture of 
the family genius. Here too we were gra- 
tified with the news of an event, before 
whose solid advantages the victories of a 
century sink, in a rational estimate, like glit- 
tering tinsel before massive ingots. I was 
awakened at an early hour by the loud 
huzzas of the towns-people, and the frequent 
discharge of cannon from vessels in the har- 
bour. The ships displayed their gayest co- 
lours; and the people, in dancing through 
the streets, congratulated each other on the 
long wished-for blessing of Peace ! The 
chagrin of two or "three provision-monopo- 
lizers, and a few others whose interest was 
in opposition to the public weal, with the 
old subterfuge that it was not the proper time 
for peace, covering a real sentiment of end- 
less war, passed unnoticed, nor formed a 
perceptible speck on the brilliancy of the 
people's joy ! 



CHAP. 



[ w ] 



C II A P. X, 



NEATH ABBEY, TOWN, AND CASTLE — 

THE KNOLL BRITON FERRY FUNEREAL 

RITES ABERAVON MARGAM ABBEY 

RUIN PILE. 

OUR tour now took an eastward direction. 
Crossing Swansea river by an exceeding £ood 
ferry, and passing a region of furnaces, we 
traversed a considerable hill to the neigh- 
bouring valley of Neath ; a spot that might 
be deemed pleasing, were it not overhung 
with the smoke of numerous manufactories, 
and its soil blackened with coal-works and 
rail-ways*. Neath abbey is a short distance 

west 

* Rail-ways are so called, from being cons! meted of iron 
(in some places wooden) rails, placed in such a manner as to 
receive the wheels of a sort of low cart, used in the convey- 
ance of metal and coals. These cars, as they are called, are 
of very ponderous structure ; their wheels, grooved round, 
with a shoulder dipping on the inside, pass with great facility 
over the rails; which latter, projecting an inch or two above 
l the 



14(5 NEATH ABBEY. CHAP. X. 

west of the town, and its remains are ex- 
tensive. Besides the abbey church, the walls 
of the offices and other apartments are yet 
standing; but, undecorated with verdure, 
and partaking of the sable hue that impinges 
on every object around, it fails to create an 
idea of beauty or grandeur. As we were 
exploring the dark recesses of the ruin, a 
number of haggard forms on a sudden darted 
from various apertures, and eagerly pressed 
toward us. Their wan countenances, half 
hidden by black matted hair, bore the strongest 
expression of misery ; which was further 
heightened by a scanty ragged apparel, that 
scarcely covered their meagre limbs : upon 
their whole appearance one might have asked 
with Ban quo, — 

" What are these, 
£€ So withered, and so wild in their attire, 
° That look not like th' inhabitants o the earth, 
iC And yet are on't ?~You should be women ; 
" And yet your beards forbid me to interpret 
" That you are so."— 

the ground, are kept in their places by a sunken frame of 
wood. The advantages of these roads are very considerable 
for the purposes to which they are applied ; insomuch that 
many persons have suggested their usefulness for public ways j 
bvt perhaps without considering the numerous practical ob- 
jections that would encounter the project. 

The 



CHAP. X. NEATH ABBEtf. 147 

The poor creatures were the wives of miners, 
and women that worked in the manufactories, 
who burrowed and brought up their families 
in the cells of the ruin. Unceasing drudgery, 
however, was unable to obtain them the ne- 
cessaries of life; much less a taste of those 
comforts, to which the exertion of useful la- 
bour might seem to have a just claim. An 
old woman, bent nearly double with years, 

'' Of ashy semblance, meagre, pale, and bloodless," 

gave us her account of the ruin. She shewed 
us the nuns' dining-room, the roof of which 
is still entire, supported by Saxon, or rather 
early Norman pillars and arches. From the 
refectory we passed to what was once the 
dormitory, and were shewn a nauseous dun- 
ii, ill which, as the legend of the ruin 
relates, offending nuns were wont to be con- 
lined. This abbey was built by Richard de 
Granville and Constance his wife, in the 
reign of Henry the First, for Cistertian monks, 
and dedicated to the Holy Trinity : at the- 
olution of monasteries its revenues were 
valued at 150/. per a?mum. The abbey- 
use, about a century and a half since, 
neo 1 an admired seat of tire Hobby's fa- 
mily, 

l 2 Neath, 



148 NEATH. CHAP. X. 

Neath, the Nidum of Antoninus, was for- 
merly of greater extent and importance than 
at present ; for, notwithstanding its flourish- 
ing manufactories, it now makes but a poor 
dirty appearance. The Castle, now an in 
considerable ruin, was built by Richard de 
Granville, one of Fitzhammon's knights, 
upon the site of a British fortress of very an- 
tient foundation ; and was taken and in part 
burnt by Prince Llewelyn A. D. 1231. The 
Neath river limits that tract of country called 
Gower; it also formed the western boundary 
of the Lordship of Glamorgan, which an- 
ciently extended eastward to the river Usk. 
The latter district fell under the dominion of 
the Normans in the following manner. 

In the year 1090, Jestyn, lord of Glamor- 
gan, having a difference with Rees, King of 
Wales, had recourse to arms, and solicited 
the assistance of Fitzhammon, an Anglo- 
Norman chieftain, to support his cause. The 
confederates were successful ; but, as it ge- 
nerally happens when foreign aid is required 
in domestic disputes, the remedy proved 
worse than the disease; for, on the plea that 
the conditions of their compact had not been 
fulfilled, Fiizhammon collected his forces, 

attacked 



CHAP. X. THE KNOLL. - 14-9 

attacked Jestyn, and deprived him of his 
life and territory. Fitzhammon shared the 
spoil with twelve knights who accompanied 
him, rewarding each with a manor. Now, 
as a dominion thus acquired must he sup- 
ported by the iron arm of coercion, we find 
the first attention of the conquerors directed 
to rearing fortresses on their domains ; and 
shortly afterwards an appendant creation of 
religious houses makes its appearance, as a 
salvo for the slaughter and injustice that pur- 
chased their greatness. To this foundation 
most of the picturesque ruins that we are about 
to examine in Glamorganshire, and part of 
Monmouthshire, may be traced : it will, 
therefore, be necessary not to lose sight of 
this point of history. 

AVe did not fail to admire the Knoll, a 
castellated seat of Sir Herbert Mack worth's, 
occupying the summit of a hill at the termi- 
nation of a noble lawn. The fine views 
which its elevation commands, encompassed 
by. hanging woods and extensive plantations, 
its shady walks and picturesque cascades, 
render it a place deservedly attractive. Be- 
neath the tufted hiHs of this estate, we passed 
l 3 from 



150 BRITON FERRY. CHAP. X. 

from Neath in our way to Briton ferry ; and 
soon remarked a single stone monument*, 
a massive paralellopiped, on a height to our 
left : another immediately afterwards appear- 
ed in a field elose to the road on the right; 

From these monuments of other times, how- 
ever, the rich hanging woods and open groves of 
Briton ferry attracted our interest, clothing 
that charming domain of Lord Vernon's. 

The extensive plantations spread over se- 
veral bold hills westward of the Neath rivfer, 
Whose broad translucid stream here emerges 
in a fine sweep between high woody banks, 
partly broken into naked cliffs, and soon 
unites with the sea. From a delightful shady 
walk impendent over the stream, we branched 
off into an " alley green" that led us up a 
steep hill covered with large trees and tangled 
underwood : the ascent was judiciously traced 
where several bare craigs projecting from the 
soil formed an apposite contrast to the luxu- 
riant verdure that prevailed around. On 

* Single stones may be considered among the remotest mo- 
numents of antiquity : we read of such in the Oid Testa- 
ment, raised in commemoration of signal victories, and as 
noted sepulchres. Jacob erected one at Lug; and placed 
another over the grave of RachaeL 

gaining 



CHAP. X. BRITON FERRY. 151 

gaining the summit the charms of Briton 
terry disclosed themselves in 

c f An ample theatre of Sylvan grace" 

of more than common beauty; beyond which 
the Bristol channel, bounded by the aerial 
tint of its opposite coast, formed the distance. 
But from a roaming prospect the eye gladly 
returned to repose on the. local beauties of the 
scene ; the tufted knoll, the dark glade, and 
the majestic river. In returning, we passed 
the mansion, a very ordinary building ; but 
paused on the neat simplicity of the village- 
church adjoining, and its well-ordered ce- 
metery. 

The custom of planting ever-greens over 
the graves of departed friends, and bedeck- 
in cr them with flowers at certain seasons of 
the year, is here attended to with peculiar 
care ; and to this pleasing tribute of affection, 
characteristic of Wales, David ap-Gwillim, a 
Welch bard who flourished about the middle 
of the fourteenth century, thus sweetly al- 
ludes in one of his odes ; 

" O whilst thy season of flowers, and thy 

" tender sprays thick of leaves remain ; I 

" will pluck the roses from the brakes ; the 

L 4 " floweret! 



152 ABERAVON. CHAP. X. 

" flowerets of the meads, and gems of the 
"woods; the vivid trefoils, beauties of the 
" ground, and the gaily smiling bloom of the 
" verdant herbs, to be offered to the memory 
" of a chief of fairest fame : Humbly will 
" I lay them on the grave of Ivor !" 

Shakspeare also, with exquisite tender- 
ness : 

" With fairest flowers while summer lasts 

" 1 11 sweeten thy sad grave : thou shalt not lack 

iC The flower that 's like thy face, pale Primrose j nor 

" The azur'd Harebell, like thy veins j no, nor 

<f The leaf of Eglantine, whom not to slander 

" Outsweeten'd not thy breath." 

Highly pleased with Briton ferry, we pro- 
ceeded along the coast, and passed through 
the little town of Aberavon. Its copper 
and tin works added no charms to the ver- 
dant fertility of this part of the country, 
which appeared ornamented with several 
gentlemen's seats, and well planted hills; 
but, grandly rising above comparison, " the 
mighty hill of Margam," a steep mountain 
entirely shaded with oaks from the base to its 
" cloud-cap't" summit, arrested our chief 
attention . 

Margam park, belonging to Mr. Talbot, 
•s chiefly to be noticed for its orangery ; 

a mag- 



CHAP. X. MARGAM. 153 

a magnificent pavilion of the Doric order, 
327 feet in length, wherein the orange-trees 
are arranged in unfavourable weaiher : but 
on our visit, these trees, to the amount of 
a hundred and fifty, from six to ten feet 
high, and all in full bearing, were agree- 
ably disposed in a sequestered part of the 
garden *. Margam abbey was until within 
these few years the mansion of the estate ; 
but it is now pulled down ; some low 
ruins, however, remain, and the walls of its 
elegant but neglected chapter-house. This 
structure is thus described by Mr. Wyndham, 
who visited the spot about thirty years since : 
ff It is an elegant Gothic building, of a date 
" subsequent to that of the church. Its 
" vaulted roof is perfect, and supported by a 
" clustered column rising from the centre of 
4( the room. The plan of this chapter-!; ouse 
ft is an exact circle, fifty feet in diameter. 
" The just proportion of the windows, and 
" the delicate ribs of the arches, which all 
" rise from the centre column and the walls, 
" gradually diverging to their respective points 
" above, must please the eye of every spec- 

* They were wrecked on the Margam estate upwards of a 
.cuitury since* 

" tator; 



154? MARGAM. CHAP. X, 

" tator ; and, what is uncommon in light 
* f Gothic edifices, the external elevation is 
** as simple and uniform as- its internal, there 
*' being, no projecting buttresses to disturb or 
tc obstruct its beauty." — " The preservation 
** of this building led me to conclude, that 
m niueh attention had been given to the lead 
" that originally covered it; but, to my asto- 
^ nishrnent, I heard that the lead had long 
€i cilice been removed, and that the only se~ 
* etirity of the roof against the weather was a 
** thick oiled paper \ which by no means pre* 
"vented the rain from penetrating and fli- 
ttering through the wrfurkvtj Mr. Wyndhani 
concludes by trusting, that, as- the present 
proprietor is a lover of antiquities, the defi- 
ciency would be corrected. But, unfortu- 
nately,: the edifice was left to its fate, and 
the roof soon fell in : thus one of the finest 
specimens of Gothic architecture in this or 
any other country is lost to the eye of taste 
and science. 

Just perceptible from the turf we traced 
the foundation of the Abbey Church, and the 
bases of four clustering pillars that most pro- 
bably supported the tower; the steps of the 
altar were also visible, besprinkled with grass; 

and, 



CHAP. X. MARGAM. 

and, turning over some fragment -, we picked 
up part of the chalice for containing holy 
water, and several of those coloured glazed 
tiles winch were used in the early Norman age 
for paving principal buildings, but com- 
monly called Roman tiles. We were in- 
formed by Mr. Snook, the intelligent gar- 
dener of the place, who was present at the 
dilapidation of the abbey, that the pavement 
formed with these tiles was the lowermost of 
three which were then removed; and that 
on digging deeper they came to an immeme 
heap of human bones. This pavement is still 
in many places remaining, though nearly 
concealed by a covering of moss. Many 
curious sculptured stones of high antiquity 
are to be met with in the park, and in the 
village adjoining; the church of which pre- 
sents, in its elevation, a more pleasing svm- 
irretry and composition than any Norman work 
that I remember to have seen *. A shady 
walk, carried beneath the leafy mantle of 
Margam's hill, passes a ruined chapel, and 
a loggan or rocking-stone, in its way to the 

. * This is called part of the Abbey church in Grose's An- 
tiquities 5 but, as the foundation of that edifice is demon- 
strable near the chapter-bouse, it appears to be an error. 

summit, 



156 PYLE. CHAP. X. 

summit, where a prospect of uncommon ex- 
tent greets the beholder. Eglis Nunne, about 
two miles south of Margam, now a farm- 
house, was formerly a nunnery subject to 
that abbey. 

Renewing our journey, we left Ken fig on 
our right, where some vestiges of a castle 
built by one of Fitzhammon's knights are 
said to appear, and proceeded to Pyle. The 
inn here, built by Mr. Talbot, and which 
might be mistaken for a nobleman's seat, af- 
fords excellent accommodation for travellers, 
who are frequently induced to make it their 
head-quarters while visiting the several ob- 
jects in the neighbourhood. — Leaving Pyle, 
we soon found ourselves on Newton Down, 
and from its height discovered the -.range of 
hills forming the opposite boundary of the 
vale of Cowbridge, in which a bold hill 
crowned with Penline Castle was eminently 
conspicuous. On looking back, we were 
pleased with a comprehensive view, of the 
country that we had lately traversed: be- 
yond the wide bay of Swansea, the whitened 
habitations of Ostermouth caught our eye ; 
the sulphureous elbuds revolving from the 
works of Swansea and Neath were only di- 
vided 



CHAP. X. NEWTON-DOWN. 157 

vided by the projection of Kilway hill ; and 
the picturesque knolls of Briton ferry ap- 
peared sunk into comparative littleness be- 
neath the towering dimensions of Margam's 
shady mountain. — Our tour now became 
thickly interspersed with baronial castles and 
other monuments of feudal times, interesting 
either by their historical events or picturesque 
decav. 



CHAP. 



158 ] 



CHAP. XL 



OGMOR'E CASTLE EWENNY PRIORY 

DUNRAVEN-HOUSE ST. DONATES CAS- 
TLE LLANBITHIAN CASTLE COW- 
BRIDGE PENLINE CASTLE COITY 

CASTLE LLANTRISSENT BENIGHTED 

RAMBLE TO PONT-Y-PRIDD WATER- 
FALLS. 

OGMORE CASTLE is situated on the east- 
ern bank of the river -Ogmore, near the road 
to Cowbridge ; its remains, however, are 
very inconsiderable, consisting merely of the 
keep and some outer walls. Caradoc, in his 
History of Wales, says, that the manor and 
castle of Ogmore were bestowed by Fitzham- 
mon on William de Londres, one of his 
knights ; from which its foundation may be 
dated prior to the Norman conquest. The 
manor courts are still held in a thatched hovel 
near it, which appears like an overgrown 



CHAP. XI. EWENNY PRIORY. 159 

pig-stye. Here, according to the custom of 
the times, a religious institution followed the 
acquisition of power. William de Lor-dres^ 
or his descendant John, built Ewenny Pri- 
ory, at the distance of a mile from the 
castle, and also near the road to Cowbridge : 
but in this the proprietor seems not to have 
lost sight of his worldly interest ; for the 
strong embattled walls and towers that appear 
among the ruins of this building would lead 
one to consider it as intended not less for the 
purposes of war than of priestcraft ; and its 
situation on the bank of the Wenny was ad- 
mirably adapted for the defence of that part 
of his domain. In the hall of the house, a 
gloomy building, are several racks, which 
appear to have been used for the lodging of 
arms. The church is a venerable mas- 
sive structure, wherein unornamented heavy 
arches repose on short bulky columns of 
the rudest workmanship : it contains a mo- 
nument of Paganus de Turbeville, supposed 
to be the grandson of Fitzhammon's knight of 
that name. The thick columns, plain capi^ 
■tal, and circular arches of this edifice, de- 
note it to be of the earliest Norman archi- 
tecture ; and might lead one to suppose it to 

. .be 



160 DUNRAVEN-HOUSE. CHAP. Xr. 

be of Saxon origin, did not historical facts in- 
validate the conjecture. Leland says that it 
was founded for Benedictine monks; but 
neither he, Dugdale, nor Tanner, gives us 
the date of its foundation. A. D. 1141 itwas 
made a cell of St. Peter's of Gloucester. 

Not far from Ewenny, on the sea-coast, is 
Dunraven-house, of castle, as it is called 
by Caradoc ; a mis-shapen dismal building, 
only to be admired for its situation on a lofty 
sea promontory, commanding extensive pros- 
pects. William de Londres, Lord of Og- 
more (says Caradoc) won the lordships of 
Kydwelhy and Carnewihion in Carmarthen- 
shire from the Welchmen ; and gave to Sir 
Arnold Butler, his servant, the castle and 
manor of Dunravcn. It continued a long 
time in the possession of his descendants ; 
but at length fell to the Vaughans, the last 
of whom, as tradition relates, was such an 
unprincipled wretch, that he set up lights, 
and used other devices to mislead seamen, in 
order that they might be wrecked on his 
manor. But his crimes did not escape pu- 
nishment ; for it is said that three of his sons 
were drowned in one day by the following 
accidents. Within sight of the house is a 

large 



CHAP. XI. DU\NRAVEN*HOUSE* 161 

large rock called the Swancar, dry only at 
low water ; to which two of his sons wenjt 
in a boat to divert themselves : but not taking 
care to fasten their vessel, on the rising of 
the tide it was washed away, and they left 
to the horrors of their fate ; which was ine- 
vitable, as the family had no other boat, nor 
was there any other in the neighbourhood. 
Their distress was seen from the house ; and 
in the confusion their infant brother, being 
left alone, fell into a vessel of whey, and was 
drowned almost at the same instant with the 
other two. This was universally looked upon 
as a judgement for the iniquities above- 
mentioned ; and Mr. Vaughan was so struck 
with the transaction, that lie immediately 
sold the house to Mr. W yndham, ancestor of 
the present proprietor. — Two extraordinary 
caverns, about a mile westward of the house, 
we neglected to visit : the one called the Cave 
is described to be a passage worn through a 
projecting stack of racks, running parallel 
with the sea-shore, and forming a kind of 
rude piazza, with an entrance to the south, 
of very grand effect. The other, called tine 
Windhole, is a deep cavern, a little to the 
east of the Cave : its depth from the entrance 

m measures 



162 ST. donatt's castle, chap. xs. 

measures seventy-seven yards. There are 
two or three small fissures through the roof of 
the cavern to the land above, a considerable 
distance from the edge of the cliff; over 
which if a hat be laid, it will be blown back 
into the air with considerable violence ; but 
this only happens when the wind blows fresh 
from the South-east. 

St. Donatt's Castle, a few miles fur- 
ther on the coast, and about five south-west 
of Cowbridge, is an extensive structure, oi' 
much antique beauty, and is still partially 
inhabited. Its garden, descending in terraces 
from the south wall, w 7 as formerly, much ad- 
mired, but now 

ce Sunk are the bowers in shapeless ruin alT, 
* " And the long grass o'ertops tlie mould'ring wall. 

Although loftily situated, the castle is so sur- 
rounded with high groves, as only to be seen 
with advantage from some heights in the ad- 
joining park : on one of them is a watch- 
tower, which affords a prospect truly grand and 
extensive. This castle is of very remote 
foundation, although the greater part of the 
building indicates the work of latter ages. 
We learn from Powell's translation of Caradoc, 

that 



CHAP. XI. LLANBITHIAN CASTLE. 103 

that the castle and manor of St. Denewit, 
or St. Donatt, was apportioned to Sir William 
le Esterlong, alias Stradling, on the conquest 
of Glamorgan. The Stradlings, outliving the. 
descendants of all the other twelve Knights, 
held it for 684 years ; but they becoming 
extinct^ the estate fell to Busy Mansell, 
Esq. * 

Between St. Dohatt's and Cowbridge is 
Lantwit, a poor village, but once a large bo- 
rough town* On the north side of its church 
are some old British relics, consisting of high 
carved stones ; but whether sepulchral or 
otherwise is not determined. LLAnbithian, 
or St. Quintin's Castle, is situated about 
half a mile south of Cowbridge. The leading 
feature of this ruin is a massive gateway, now 
converted into a barn ; which, as well as the 
other parts, denotes considerable original 
strength, and is said to have been built prior 
to the arrival of Fitzhammon. The castle 
and manor fell to the share of Sir Robert St. 
Quintin on the division of Glamorgan ; but 
it passed from his descendants in the reign of 

* In this neighbourhood several Roman coins have been 
dug up, among which were some very scarce ones of iEmi- 
lianus andMarius. 

m 2 Henry 



164> PENLfNE CASTLE. CHAP. Xl. 

Henry the Third, and is now the property of 
Lord Windsor. Cowbridge is a neat little 
town seated on the banks of a small river *. 

Penline Castle, loftily seated on a bold 
hill, and commanding a prospect of uncom- 
mon diversity and extent, is about a mile 
distant from Cowbridge. From the lines of 
Edward Williams, a native poet, it may ap- 
pear that it serves as a barometer for the 
neighbourhood : 



" When the hoarse waves of Severn are screaming aloud, 

10 And Penline's lofty castle's involv'd in a cloud 5 

" If true the old proverb, a shower of rain 

" Is brooding above and will soon drench the plain." 






This structure is of very ancient date: in 
some parts of the building the stones are laid 
in the herring-bone fashion ; a mode observed 
in the oldest parts of Guildford, Corfe, and 
others of the most ancient castles. The man- 
sion near to the ruin was built by Mr. Ser- 
geant Sey, and is now possessed by Miss 
Gwinit, by a bequest of the late Lady 
Vernon's. 

* Llancarvan, about three miles from Cowbridge, is said 
to be the site of a Monastery built by St. Cadocus in the year 
500. — Boverton, a village a short distance from Cowbridge 
in the road to Cardiff, is thought to be the Bovium of the 

Komans. 

Are- 



CHAP. XI. BRIDGEND. 1(*5 

A retrograde movement, hastily performed 
in a shower of rain, brought us to Bridgend, 
a straggling little town, built on the opposing 
banks of the river Ogmore. From this place 
a road passes to the village of Coity and its 
dismantled castle. This ruin stands on a 
plain ground, and is prettily interspersed 
with various trees and underwood : its foun- 
dation is generally attributed to Paganus de 
Turbeville, one of Fitzhammon's knights. — - 
The continuance of our ride to Llantrissent 
boasted little interest ; until, making a curve 
near the seven-mile stone, when the wide un- 
dulating vale of Cowbridge exhibited a most 
extensive tract of beautiful fertility : among the 
high hills circumscribing the vale, that sus- 
taining Penline castle rose with superior im- 
portance. The whole laid out in rich pas- 
tures and meadows, continually intersected 
with tufted inclosures, and enlivened with 
embowered hamlets and detached whitened 
buildings, formed a coup d'ceil of considerable 
interest. 

The old town of Llantrissent appeared 
within a small distance of us, long before 
we arrived at it : for, perched upon the sum- 
mit of a high hill of remarkable steepness, it 

M 3 was 



166 LLANTRISSENT. CHAP. XI, 

was only by a circuitous road, then of suf* 
ficiently fatiguing ascent, that it could be ap* 
proached. This place, comprised nearly iq 
one narrow irregular street, and made up of 
poor Gothic habitations, has so little of mo- 
dern appearance engrafted on it, that it may 
be interesting as a specimen of ancient times, 
but scarcely in any other respect. The castle 
is nearly all destroyed ; the fragment of a 
lofty round tower, and the vestiges of its out-? 
w r orks, nearly concealed by tangled shrubs, 
being all the remains of it. The church is 
a large Norman edifice, and from the ce* 
metery a wonderful prospect is obtained 
of the surrounding country : although a 
hazy state of the atmosphere denied us the 
whole of its extent, enough remained to as- 
sure us that it must be considerable. 

Pont-y-pridd, or New Bridge, was our 
next destination. My companion went foiv 
ward to secure accommodation at the Bridge^ 
water Arms, a comfortable inn about half a 
mile beyond it, while I was engaged in 
sketching some subjects about Llantrissent ; 
at which task J incautiously protracted my 
stfiy 

J*, until 



CHAP. XI. LLANTRISSFNT. 167 



" until th' approach of night, 



" The skies warm blushing with departing light j 
" When falling dews with spangles deck'd the glade, 
" And the low sun had lengthen' d ev'ry shade." 

As I proceeded from Llantrissent, cultivation 
diminished ; and from that fertile and popu- 
lous district, bordering the Severn, I found 
myself entering upon the unfrequented wilds 
of the interior country. It soon became so 
dark, that I could but just distinguish the 
broken road that I was travelling ; which, 
although a Welch turnpike, a modern far- 
mer in England would be ashamed to own 
for his cartway. Not a human face or habi- 
tation presented itself, nor any relief from 
silence, except the uncheering note of the 
screech owl. At length, however, the dis- 
tant murmur of a waterfall saluted me ; 
which, growing louder as I advanced, pre- 
sently accumulated to a hoarse roar ; and, 
by the direction of the sound, it appeared 
that I was travelling on a precipice above the 
torrent. A plentiful shower falling at this 
instant did not add to the comforts of my si- 
tuation ; and I found by the motion of the 
horse, that I was on a steep descent ; while 
his frequent slides and stumbles proved that 
m 4 lie 



1(58 BENIGHTED RAMBLE. CHAP, XI, 

lie was on very rugged ground, and probably 
out of any track. In this dilemma imagina- 
tion, ever active in magnifying concealed 
danger, pictured my situation as tottering on 
the brink of some such chasm as that of the 
Devil's bridge. Here I might have exclaimed 
with Ossian's Colma; "It is night ; I am 
alone, forlorn on the hill of storms. The wind 
is heard on the Mountains; the torrent shrieks 
down the rock. No hut receives me from the 
rain ; forlorn on the hill of winds/' But 
to remain under such apprehensions were 
worse than to encounter danger, and I slowly 
moved on in almost total darkness ; until, 
making a sudden turn, I beheld the tops of 
the neighbouring hills illumined in a strange 
manner. In 3, few moments a gleam of 
light, transmitted by reflection through an 
opening in some trees, shone on my track, 
and discovered a dark huge figure standing at 
my horse's head, I was scarcely collected 
from my surprize when my bric|le was forci- 
bly arrested, and a loud but unintelligible 
voice seemed to demand that I should stop. 
Already was I conceiving how to repel the 
attack, when the man, observing that I did 
not understand Welch, civilly accosted me 

m 



CHAP. XI. PONT-Y-PRIDD. 169 

in imperfect English, and assured me that I 
was on the edge of a precipice. Nor did he 
leave me with this service, but kindly led 
my horse to the little village of Font-y-pridd ? 
then within a short distance. Here, while re- 
galing over a mug of ale, my conductor ac- 
counted for the light that surprized me : it 
proceeded from an immense bonfire of a party 
of colliers in some distant mountains, rejoicing 
at the blessing of peace. At this place I de- 
termined to fix my quarters ; nor could the 
offer of a guide and lanthorn, to conduct me 
to the superior accommodation of the Bridge- 
water arms, induce me to tempt again the 
dangers of the night, or quit the coarse barley 
bread, salt butter, and miserable beer of the 
village alehouse. 

Early in the morning my companion re- 
joined me, when we visited Pont-y-pridd, 
the celebrated bridge of Glamorganshire. 
This, extraordinary piece of masonry consist$ 
of a single arch, whose chord is 147 feet, 
thrown across the Taffe. William Edward, 
an ingenious mason of this country, who 
built it, failed in two preceding attempts, 
which would have proved his ruin ; but the 
gentry in the neighbourhood laudably sup- 
ported 



170 PONT-Y-PRIDD. CHAP. XI. 

ported his ingenuity, although at first unsuc- 
cessfully exerted, and enabled him to com- 
plete the present structure. The great beauty 
of tills arch arises from the simplicity of its 
construction, and indeed from its very de- 
fect as a roadway ; for the passage over the 
bridge is not sloped away into the adjoining 
roads, as it might be ; but precipitately de- 
scends on each side, following the line of 
the arch. This circumstance, and its being 
defended with only a very low parapet, gives 
the bridge a remarkably light appearance. 
Situated in a romantic hollow, and abruptly 
jetting from the bold woody banks of the 
river, it looks a magic bow thrown across by 
the hands of fairies. 

Two waterfalls in this neighbourhood de- 
serve notice. One occurs about half a mile 
above the bridge. We proceeded to it through 
a delightful sylvan path on the bank of 
the river, and under the beetling brow of 
Craig-er-esk. The river is seen for a consi- 
derable distance struggling through a region 
of rocks, which in some places rise in large 
masses above its surface, and in others ap- 
pear through the transparency of the stream 
shelving to a considerable depth; wearing, 

throughout 



CHAP. XI. WATERFALLS. 17 i 

throughout the odd appearance of a vast assem- 
blage of cubes, variously heaped, but with 
one face constantly horizontal : at length the 
river breaks over a compact strata ; yet only 
in a fall of eight or ten feet, which is di- 
vided into several streams. The white foam 
of the river, and the light grey tint of the 
rocks, afford a strong contrast to the mixed 
verdure and dark shadows of its banks ; but 
upon the whole the subject is rather to be no- 
ticed for its singularity than for any leading 
points of picturesque beauty. More agreea- 
bly composed appeared to us the other cas- 
cade of the tributary river Rhayder, about 
two miles distant from the bridge. The dark 
rocks that occasion the fall ; the surrounding 
craigs; the light and pendant foliage that 
adorns them, and the vigorous trees that 
emerge from the banks, are all disposed with 
the utmost symmetry, and form a highly^- 
pleasing picture, though of inconsiderable 
dirnensions. 



CHAP. 



[ 172 ] 



CHAR XII. 



SCENERY OF THE TAFFE STUPENDOUS 

RUINS OF CAERPHILLY CASTLE THE 

LEANING TOWER FINE VIEW FROM 

THORNHILL CARDIFF CASTLE EC- 
CLESIASTICAL DECAY OF LANDAFF — 
THE CATHEDRAL, 

JT ROM Pont-y-pridd we made another 
excursion toward Merthyr-tidvill ; less to wit- 
ness the lately-acquired importance of the 
town in consequence of the great iron-works 
established in its neighbourhood, than to 
trace the beauties of the TafFe through its ro* 
mantic valley. At one time, a towering hill 
completely mantled with wood lifted its 
shaggy su mini t to the clouds; in succession, 
naked rocks perpendicularly descended to 
the water; or, through favoured hollows, a 
stripe of green meadow would gently slope 
^nd mix its verdure with the stream. As we 

advanced, 



CHAP. XII. CAERPHILLY CASTLE. 175 

advanced, the narrow valley still further con- 
tracted, and the river, confined by the ap- 
proaching bases of the mountains, assumed 
the character of a torrent. Our road conti- 
nued on one margin of the river, and a canal, 
singularly abounding with locks, kept pace 
with us on the other ; to the Cyclopean re- 
gion of Merthyr-tidvill *. We did not enter 
the town, but re-measured our steps to Pont- 
v-pridd ; and about four miles below it bade 
adieu to the romantic course of the Tafte, in 
deviating up a steep confine of its valley to- 
wards the town and castle of Caerphilly. 

The celebrated ruin of Caerphilly Cas- 
tle soon appeared at some distance beneath 
us, occupying the centre of a small plain, 
which, with its surrounding amphitheatre of 
hills, presented a display of regular fences 
and cultivation that strikingly contrasted with 
the district that we had just left. The idea 
formed on a first view of this stupendous pile 
is rather that of a ruined town than a castle : 

* From this place a turnpike-road extends through the 
mountains to Brecon, a district so wild as not to present a 
village, and scarcely a habitation in an extent of eighteen 
miles. — In the neighbourhood of Merthyr-tydvill I find 
described Morlashe castle., a ruin. 

it 



174 CAEfePHILLY CASTLE. CHAF. Xtt< 

it is by much the largest ruin in Britain, aL* 
though its dimensions are somewhat inferior 
to those of Windsor castle. The high outer 
rampart, with its massive abutments and fre- 
quent towers, still in a great measure entire, 
conveys at once a clear impression of the 
great extent of the fortress* In entering upon 
an examination of the; ruin we passed the 
barbican *, now built up into habitations ; 
and, proceeding between two dilapidated 
towers, entered the great area of the castle :— *- 
a range of building, beneath the rampart on 
our right, once formed the barracks of the 
garrison. We then advanced to that pile of 
superior building, i. e. of citadel, hall, cha- 
pel, state and other apartments, which is ge- 
nerally considered as the castle, in distinction 
from the encircling area and its wall : clam- 
bering over the fragments of another draw- 
bridge and its defending towers, we entered 
the first court, which appears to have com- 
prised the citadel : thence we passed through 
a large gateway, with several grooves for 
portcullises, to the principal court of the 
castle. The area of this court is seventy yards 

* An outwork that defended the drawbridge. 

by 



CHAP. XII. CAERPHILLY CASTLE. 175 

by forty : on the south side is that princely 
apartment, by some considered the hall, and 
by others the chapel : but, whichever it may 
have been, vestiges of much original beauty 
appear in the elegant outline of its four large 
windows; the grand proportions of the chim- 
ney-piece, and the light triplet pillars, with 
arches that go round the room. The appear- 
ance of mortice holes in the walls for the ends 
of beams, at the height of about the middle 
of the windows, led Camden to suppose that 
the cieling was projected from thence, and that 
an apartment above was lighted by the upper 
portion of the windows ; but surely at a time 
when symmetry in building was so well cul- 
tivated, and where it appears to have been so 
successfully applied, such a ridiculous con- 
trivance could not have taken place : more 
probably, as I conceive, from those mortices 
a support was derived for a lofty arched roof, or 
a gallery *. Eastward of the hall, is the cu- 
riosity of a leaning tower, a bulky fragment 
of the ruin between seventy and eighty feet 

* The external staircase entrance to the hall spoken of by 
Garaden, " the roof whereof is vaulted and supported by- 
twenty arches/' is now rendered nearly impassable by 
rubbish. 

in 



176 CAERPHILLY CASTLE, CHAP. Kit, 

in height, whose walls are of a prodigious 
thickness : it hangs nearly eleven feet out of 
the perpendicular, and is only held together 
by the strength of its cement. How of When 
this phenomenon happened no legend informs 
us; but it has remained in this state many 
centuries. As the adjoining towers, and all 
the standing parts of the ruin, remain per- 
pendicular, the cause must have arisen from 
a local failure of the foundation : hence I am 
of opinion, that a solution of the phenomenon 
may be found in the effects of a mine, and 
which probably took place during the long 
siege which Hugh le Despenser sustained in 
this castle in the time of Edward the Second. 
Near this part of the ruin a place is shewn as 
the mint, with two furnaces for melting metal. 
From this chamber we ascended a spiral stair- 
case to the corridor, still in very good preserva- 
tion, which, lighted by small windows, and 
passing round the principal court, formed a 
communication with the different apartments. 
The external view of the western entrance of 
the ruin, with its ponderous circular towers 
venerably shaded with ivy, is remarkably 
striking ; and, with the remains of its draw- 
bridge and defending outwork, may be con- 
sidered 



CttAP. XII. CAEftPHILLY CASTLE. 177 

sidered as the most entire part of the ruin. 
An artificial mound some distance off", but 
within the works of the castle, was most likely 
used for exploratory purposes. 

From the great plan of this castle, and 
there being no direct evidence to the con- 
trary, its foundation has been attributed to the 
Romans ; and some ingenious arguments 
have been adduced to prove, that it was their 
Bullaum Silurum. But it sufficiently appears, 
that no considerable part of the present for- 
tress was built by them, as the predatory 
armv of Rhys Tycan took and rased Caer- 
philly castle in 1221. The best supported 
opinion is that of the Hon. Daines Harrington, 
who attributes the present erection to Edward 
the First. — Caerphilly has lately increased 
from an obscure village to a well-built littte 
town ; and the respectable appearance of its 
two inns may be in a great measure dated 
from the great increase of the visitants of the 
castle *. 

We 

* On a mountain near Caerphilly is a monument known 
by the name of Y Maen hir. It is a quadrangular stone 
pillar, rather inclining, and about eight feet high : close to 
the base is a mound, inclosing the space of six yards ; and in 

n the 



US THORNIIILL. CHAP. XII, 

. We left Caerphilly, over its hilly boundary, 
on the road to Cardiff; where we noticed the 
singular appearance of some peasants digging- 
coals from the surface of the ground. At the 
extremity of this tract, Thornhill, a grand 
elevation, afforded us a most extensive pro- 
spect, which, illuminated by an evening sun, 
formed a picture of uncommon brilliancy. 
The wide plain of Cardiff displayed for ma- 
ny miles, in every direction, a gratifying 
extent of Nature's bounty, in an endless va- 
riety of cultivation, chequered with num- 
berless hedgerows, and enlivened by several 
villages, whose neatly-whitened walls glis- 
tened through their appendant foliage : the 
rich verdure was in one part varied by the 
russet hue of an extensive warren. At the 
extremity of this tract appeared the expansive 
Severn, in which the two islands of the steep 
and flat Holmes were conspicuous ; and afar 
off the bold hills of Somersetshire closed the 
prospect. We slowly descended from the 
spot commanding this range of objects, and 

the midst, a square area. On the pillar is an inscription in 
Welch, which signifies, " .May'st thou awake >" from which 
it -is inferred to be a funereal monument. — Grose's An- 
tiquities. 

travelled 



£hAP. XII. CARDIFF. 179 

travelled on a good road towards Cardiff*, 
with the episcopal ruins of Landaff at a 
small distance on our right. 

On entering Cardiff, the capital of Gla- 
morganshire, between the ivy-mantled walls 
of its castle, and the mouldering ruin of a 
house of White Friars, we were much pleased 
with the aspect of the town: nor were we 
less so on a closer examination of its neat and 
well-paved streets ; it appearing to us one of 
the cleanest and most agreeable towns in 
Wales. The high tower of its church, 
crowned with four transparent Gothic pin- 
nacles, had long engaged our interest ; but 
on a near view we did not find the body of 
the church to correspond with it; it being of 
an older date, a plain Norman structure. 
This, I believe, was the conventual church 
of the Franciscan Friars that are described as 
having occupied the eastern suburb of the 
town. The other parish church, for Cardiff 
is divided into two parishes, was undermined 
by the action of the river, about a century 
and a half since, and fell down. The house 
of the White Friars has been already noticed ; 
and without the west gate stood a monastery 
rf Black Friars. This town was formerly 
n & encompassed 



180 CARDIFF CASTLE. CHAP. XlL 

encompassed by a wall, and vestiges of its 
four gates yet remain. Cardiff, having the 
benefit of a good harbour, carries on a brisk 
trade with Bristol, and other places, and has 
of late considerably increased its commercial 
importance: but perhaps its chief interest 
with tourists will be derived from its castle. 

Cardiff Castle,,, a seat of the Marquis of 
Bute, (Baron Cardiff and Earl of Windsor), wa& 
until lately a Gothic structure of considerable 
elegance; but having undergone a repair, 
without attention to the antique style of arch i- 
tecture, it presents a motley combination, in 
which the remaining Gothic but serves to 
excite our regret for the greater portion de- 
stroyed. The misguided direction of this 
work is prominently conspicuous in the en- 
largement of the building, wherein fashion- 
able square windows appear throughout the* 
lower apartments, while the original character 
of the edifice is imitated in the Gothic lines 
of the upper windows : a strange violation of* 
common propriety,, to raise an antique super- 
structure upon a modern foundation ! The 
part of the castle which is kept up is a single 
range of building ; and an elegant maehico- 
lated tower, overlooking the whole, stil'l 

frowns- 



CHAP. XII. CARDIFF CASTLE. 181 

frowns defiance on the petty innovations be- 
neath. The internal has been entirely new- 
planned, and a number of portraits of the 
present lord's progenitors are ranged in the 
apartments, with the principal events of their 
lives, emblazoned in letters of gold ; but 
they are for the most part indifferently exe- 
cuted. In front of the building is a spacious 
lawn, from the trim surface of which rises an 
artificial mound, bearing the mouldering 
ruin of the ancient keep *, carefully shorn of 
shrub and briar. In the tower, at the entrance, 
a dark damp dungeon is described to have 
been the prison of Robert duke of Normandy ; 
in which lie was confined near thirty years, 
after being deprived of his sight and inhe- 
ritance by his younger brother Henry the 
First. But it is more probable that he had the 
whole range of the castle ; for, independent 
of the improbability that any human creature 
could live so long in such a place, we have 
the authority of Odo Vitalis and William of 
Malmesbury, that Henry made his imprison- 
ment as easy as possible ; furnishing him with 
an elegant table, and buffoons to divert him. 

* This* is called the magazine, from its having been ap- 
plied to that purpose in the civil wan of Charles \hc First. 

n 3 A high 



182 CARDIFF CASTLE, CHAP. Xir. 

A high rampart incloses the whole ; round 
the top of which a walk is carried, affording 
many pleasing views of the surrounding 
country. 

When Robert Fitzhammon conquered and 
divided the lordship of Glamorgan with his 
twelve knights, he reserved the town of Car- 
diff, among other estates, for himself, and 
erected this castle : here he held his courts of 
Chancery and Exchequer; the former on the 
first Monday in every month, when his 
knights or their heirs were bound to attend, 
and were then entitled to apartments in the 
outer court of the castle ; which privilege, 
says Sir John Price, their heirs or assigns en-*- 
joy to this day. 

This castle has frequently experienced the 
vicissitudes of war. Soon after its erection, 
one Ivor Black, a little resolute Welchman, 
marched hither privately, with a troop of 
mountaineers, and surprized the castle in the 
night; carrying off William Earl of Glou- 
cester (Fitzhammon's grandson), together with 
his wife and son ; whom he detained pri- 
soners until he obtained satisfaction for some 
injuries that he had suffered. It was also 
taken by Maelgon and Rhys gyre anno 1282; 

and 



CHAP. XII. LANDAFF. 183 

and again by the parliamentary forces in the 
civil wars, after a long siege. 

A pleasant walk over the fields led us to the 
episcopal city of Landaff, now in extent 
an inconsiderable village: this deserted spot 
occupies a gentle eminence in the great plain 
of Cardiff. The west front of the cathedral is 
an admirable relic of Norman architecture, 
with two elegant towers of extraordinary 
h eight, profusely enriched with the best sculp- 
ture of that age : here all the apertures are 
circularly arched*; but the windows of part of 
the nave, yet remaining, are Gothic. Upon 
the chancers falling to decay some score years 
since, a great sum was expended in raising 
the present church upon the old stock ; but 
surely such an absence of taste and common 
sense w r as never before instanced: beneath 
the solemn towers has sprung up a fantastic 
summer-house elevation, with a Venetian 
window, Ionic pilasters, and flower-pot jars 
upon the parapet. The same sort of window 
is coupled with the elegant line of the orna- 
mented Gothic in other parts of the structure; 
and within, a huge building upon the model 
of a heathen temple surrounds the altar; 
which, with two thrones, darken and fill up 
n 4 nearly 



184 LANBAFF, CHAP. XII. 

nearly half die church. From this mass of 
inconsistencies we turned to the inspection of 
several ancient monuments, which were 
chiefly recumbent, and from several marks 
of recent damage appeared to be much ne- 
glected *. 

The cathedral, now in ruins, was built by 
Bishop Urban, anno H20, upon the site of 
one founded by St. Dubritius in the com- 
mencement of the sixth century, and dedi- 
cated to more saints than I have room to enu- 
merate. Urban also built a palace here, 
which was destroyed by Owen Glendower : 
its high outer walls aiid gateway, however* 
remain, and form an indosure to a garden, 
A large mansion adjoining, occupied by Mr. 
Matthews, is, I understand, attached to the 
bishopric f J 

* There is no cross aile to this cathedral, as there is to 
all the others in England and Wales : nor any middle steeple, 
m there is to all the others except Bangor and Exeter. 

f Castle coch, or the, Red castle, situated upon a high banlc 
of the river Tafxe, about four miles above Landaff, is a, 
pirsail ruin which we neglected to visit, 



CHAP. 



[ 185 1 



CHAP. XIIL 



ENTRANCE OF MONMOUTHSHIRE — AN- 
CIENT ENCAMPMENTS CASTLETON— 

TREDEGAR PARK NEWPORT; CHURCH; 

AND CASTLE EXCURSION TO MACHEN 

PLACE PICTURESQUE VIEW FROM 

CHRIST CHURCH GOLD CLIFF — CAER- 

LEON'S ANTIQUITIES ENCAMPMENTS 

• — LORD HERBERT OF CHERBURY- — LAN- 
TARNAM LANGIBBY* CASTLE. 

On quitting Cardiff, we soon entered Mon- 
mouthshire* in crossing Rumney bridge. 
The church of Rumney is a large Gothic 

edifice, 

* Monmouthshire has been separated from Wales by the 
judicial arrangement of later times ; yet the character of the 
county throughout is so entirely Cambrian, that I cannot 
consider myself out of Wales until after having passed the 
Wye. Indeed, this highly-varied and interesting district 
m2y be considered as an epitome of the whole principality. 
The mountains stretching over the north-west of Monmouth- 
shire 



18<3 RUPERAH. CHAP. XIII* 

edifice, with an embattled tower. Nearly 
opposite to it, on the left of the road, crown- 
ing a steep bank of the river, is an old en- 
campment of an irregular figure, with a trH 
angular outwork ; and a short distance fur- 
ther, at Pen-y-pile, another occurs of a poly- 
hedrous form. As we proceeded, the ele- 
vated mansion and extensive woods of Ru- 
perah, an elegant seat belonging to a branch 
of the Morgan family, appeared finely situ^ 
ated beneath the brow of some hills bordering 
the vale of Caerphilly ; and on a gentle hill 
below it, Keven-Mable, an ancient seat of 
the Kemy's family* At jhe rural little 

shire may vie with any in South- Wales, and even aspire to 
the majestic wildness. of some in North -Wales ; the rich fer- 
tility, or broken precipices accompanying the course of the 
Severn, Wye, and Usk, with much contrastive grandeur*; 
possess the highest pretensions to picturesque fame j and its 
numerous ruins and other monuments of antiquity are among 
the'most celebrated in thekingdom. — An elegant and able work, 
in two volumes, quarto, has been lately published, descriptive 
of Monmouthshire, and illustrated by no less than 90 excel- 
lent plates. The researches of its author (Mr. Coxe) 
have been so accurate and complete, as to leave little more for 
a succeeding tourist to do than to select and transcribe. The 
descriptions I always found highly satisfactory and just; I 
have therefore, in the generality of instances, thought it un- 
necessary to follow any other authority for documents in his- 
tory and antiquities. 

village 



.CHAP. XIII. TREDEGAR. .1 8*7 

village of St. Mellons, the old and new roads 
to Newport unite: we took the latter, which 
is the lowermost and nearest, traced on a 
range of gentle eminences skirting Went- 
loog level, an extensive fertile plain won 
from the sea. This wide flat, extending 
from the Rumney to the Usk rivers, is re- 
lieved by the intersections of hedges and 
drains, and has a sprinkling of white cot- 
tages ; among which the towers of St. Bride's, 
Marshfield, and Peterston churches rise con- 
spicuously. Our route passed through Cas?- 
ileton, where there was formerly a castle ; 
of which, however, only a small artificial 
mount, the site of its citadel, now inclosed 
in the garden of Mr. Phillips, and a chapel 
converted into a barn, remain. Gwern-y- 
cleppa park, the next object of our attention 
pn the road, contains a ruin nearly hidden in 
an interwoven thicket, once the mansion of 
Ivor-hael (the generous), the pride of bardish 
song, who flourished in the commencement' 
of the fourteenth century. 

We entered Tredegar Park in succession, 
a very ancient seat of the Morgan family. 
This park is laid out in the obsolete style of 
groves and avenues ; but possesses great room 

for 



188 TREDEGAR. CHAP. XIIT. 

for modern taste, in the variety of swell and 
hollow composing its surface, the remarkable 
size and beauty of the oaks and Spanish ches- 
nuts with which it is decorated, and the pic- 
turesque course of the rapid Ebwy, whose 
red rocky banks form a striking contrast to 
the surrounding verdure. The turnpike road 
passes through the park, and within a few 
hundred yards of the mansion, a huge 
quadrangular brick building, of the date of 
Charles the Second's reign, with a high 
shelving roof, in which are two or three tiers 
of windows, similar to the weighing-house 
at Amsterdam. Internally, the house is con- 
venient and well arranged, with state and 
domestic apartments, several of which are 
preserved in their original character. The 
most remarkable is the oak room ; the floor- 
ing of which, forty-two feet by twenty-seven, 
was furnished by a single oak ; and the 
wainscoting, formed of the same material, is 
much admired for its antique, carving. A 
large collection of pictures, chiefly family 
portraits, is distributed through the house; 
but few of them are valuable as specimens of 
art. Among the extensive offices are several 
remains of the ancient castellated mansion, 

described 



CHAP. XIII. NEWPORT CHURCH. IW 

described by Leland as ** a very fair place 
of stone/ ' 

The Morgan family being one of the most 
ancient and considerable in Wales, the inge- 
nuity of the bards has been excited to trace 
its origin : some have venally derived it from 
Cam the second son of Noah ; but others re- 
fute this position, and modestly carry it no 
further than his third son. Without noticing 
several intervening personages contended to 
be the founders of this family, Cadivor the 
great, lord of Dyfed, who died anno 1084, 
appears to be the only one well supported in 
the appointment of its great ancestor. 

From Tredegar Park we immediately 
crossed the Ebwy by a long narrow bridge, 
and presently entered Newport, a dirty ill- 
built town nearly comprized in one long 
street winding down a bank of the river Usk. 
The eminence on which its church is situated, 
at the upper part of the town, affords a very 
fine prospect of the surrounding country ; at 
the extremity of the town appears its ruined 
castle, watered by the silvery Usk : an inter- 
mixture of wood and pasture clothes the sur- 
rounding hills and vallevs : the wild moun- 
tains about Pont-y-pooi are strongly .contrasted 

by 



190 NEWPORT CHURCH. CHAP. Xtlf* 

by the fertile tract of Wentloog and Caldecot 
levels, and the noble expanse of the Bristol 
channel backed by the cultivated hills of So- 
mersetshire. The church exhibits the archi- 
tecture of several ages ; its nave comprehends 
the original church, which is of the oldest 
mode of building, and may be considered as 
of a date prior to the settlement of the Nor- 
mans : the chancel and ailes are of later ar- 
chitecture. The western doorway, connected 
with the ancient chapel of St. Mary, now 
converted into a burying-piace, and which 
was formerly the grand entrance, exhibits a 
curious specimen of Saxon carving, in a cir- 
cular archway, with hatched and indented 
mouldings resting on low columns with capi- 
tals of rude foliage. The church contains 
three ancient monuments ; but its chief orna- 
ment is the high square embattled tower,- 
built by Henry the Third, in gratitude for 
the attachment of the townsmen to his cause 
during his contest with the barons. St. 
Wooloo, the patron of this spot, is held in 
high veneration by the natives. He retired 
from the pride and pageantry of kinghood, 
to lead a life of prayer and mortification : a 
lowly cottage was his dwelling; sackcloth 

hk 



•CHAP. XIII. NEWPORT CASTLE. 19"! 

his apparel ; he lived by tlie labour of his 
hands ; the crystal rill afforded his only be- 
verage, and barley bread, rendered more dis- 
relishing by a sprinkling of ashes, his con- 
stant food. He left this world for better fare 
in the next about the. end of the fifth cen- 
tury. 

Newport Castle is a ruin of very incon- 
siderable dimensions : its quadrangular area 
was only defended by a simple wall, except 
on the side next the river, where three towers 
still remain in a nearly mtire state. There is 
an octagon tower at each extremity of this 
side ; a large square one between them, with 
turrets at each angle, appears to have beeia 
the citadel, and contains a vaulted apartment 
called the state-room ; at the bottom of this 
tower a handsome Gothic arch forms a water- 
gate, which has within it the groove of a 
portcullis : between this and the further 
-tower was the baronial hall, the ruins of which 
yet remain. The pointed arches throughout 
this building testify it to have been a work 
posterior to the Norman sera ; though it is 
certain, that there was a castle at Newport in 
1 173, when Owen ap Caradoc, going to treat 
with king Henry without arms or attendants, 

was 



192 NEWPORT. CHAP. XIII. 

was basely murdered by the soldiers of New* 
port castle. Jowerth ap Owen, his father, 
in revenge for this treachery, carried fire and 
sword to the gates of Hereford and Gloucester. 
Newport was formerly encompassed with a 
wall ; but of this there are no remains ; nor 
of the three gates mentioned by Leland, ex- 
cept some small vestiges of the one next the 
bridge. A large Gothic building near the 
castle, with a stone coat of arms over the 
door, now occupied as a warehouse, was for- 
merly the murringer's * house. In place of 
an inconvenient wooden bridge, a handsome 
stone one of five arches has been lately exe- 
cuted by Mr. David Edward, son of the 
mason of Pont-y-pridd : a canal was also just 
finished at the time of our visit, reaching from 
Pont-y-pool, by means of which its brisk 
and improving trade in coals and iron is 
much facilitated. 

On the banks of the river, a short distance 
below the bridge, are the remains of a house 
of preaching friars ; consisting of the spacious 
refectory, part of the church, and other 
buildings, now converted to private uses. — 

* An officer who had the superintendance of the walls, 
and collected a toll for keeping them in repair. 

About 



CHAP. XIII; BASSALEG. 19$ 

About a mile further southward, near the 
conflux of the Usk and Ebwy, are the small 
vestiges of Green castle, once a considerable 
fortress belonging to the duke of Lancaster, 
and described by Churchyard,- who flourished 
in the reign of Elizabeth, as 

" A goodly seate, a tower, a princely pyle." 

AVe made an excursion on the road to Caer* 
philly, which embraces several objects not 
unworthy of notice. About a mile and half 
from Newport is the Gaer^ a large encamp- 
ment supposed to be Roman, occupying the 
brow of an eminence near the Ebwy in Tre- 
degar park. A short distance further is the 
little village of Bassaleg, the approach to 
which is very picturesque ; where the Ebwy* 
appears struggling in its bed of red rocks, and 
throwing its clear stream over a weir just be- 
neath the bridge : above it rises the church, 
with its embattled tower finely relieved by 
intervening foliage. Here, according to 
Tanner, was a Benedictine priory, a cell to 
the abbey of Glastonbury ; but of this no 
traces are evident ; unless a ruin in the deep 
recesses of a forest about a mile westward, 
called Coed-y-Monachty, or the wood of 
o the 



194 MACHEN-PLACE. CHAP. XIII. 

the monastery, are its remains. On the sun> 
mit of a hill overgrown with coppice, about 
a mile from Bassaleg, near the road to Llan- 
vihangel, is a circular encampment called 
Craeg-y-saesson. 

From Bassaleg the country continues un- 
dulating and fertile to the vale of Machen, 
where the Rumney emerges from among 
wild hills and overhanging forests, and sweeps 
through the plain : a sprinkling of white 
cottages enliven the scene, which receives 
an additional effect from its picturesque 
church, and the steep acclivity of Machen 
hill, studded all over with lime-kilns. At 
the opening of the vale is Machen-place, 
once a respectable seat of the Morgans, but 
now tottering in decay, and occupied as a 
farm-house : some memorials of faded gran- 
deur may here be traced in a circular apart- 
ment, with a rich stuccoed cieling, called 
the hunting-room. A pair of andirons 
weighing two hundred weight, formerly em- 
ployed in roasting an entire ox, and an im- 
mense oak table, may also convey an idea 
of the solid fare and plenty of days of yore. 
We pursued the road no further; but, re- 
turning 



CHAP. XIII. CHRIST-CHURCH. 1.95 

turning through Newport*, and crossing its 
bridge, took the road to Caerleon. 

Our route soon became uninteresting, and 
continued a confined and miry avenue; un- 
til, arriving at Christ-church, and looking 
over a hedge opposite to it, when a prospect burst 
upon us with an electric suddenness, grandly 
extensive and delightful. From the fore- 
ground descended a succession of bold knolls 
or gentle swells, clothed with ornamental 
plantations, in a wide display of sylvan 
beauty, to Caldecot level, whose uniform 
though fruitful plain was in a great measure 
concealed by the intervention of contrasting 
heights. Beyond this, the majestic Severn's 

fresh current flow'd 



* Against the eastern ray translucent, pure, 
c « With touch sethefeal of Heaven's fiery rod." 

Numerous barks diversified its surface ; and 
a large fleet of ships, anchored at KingVroad, 
became a striking object. The high opposite 

* We did not visit Rogeston castle, about two miles 
north-west of Newport, a fortress of the Stradlings who came 
ever with Fitzhammon. Part of its remains appear in the 
foundation of the mansion built on its site, belonging to the 
.Morgans, but tenanted by Mr. Butler of Caerleon, and em- 
ployed as a manufactory of iron bolts and tin plates. 

o 2 shore? 



196 GOLD CLIFF. CHAP. XIII. 

shores of Somersetshire either descended in 
fertile slopes, laid out in pastures and corn- 
fields; or, abruptly disjoined, opposed their 
cliffs, a naked surface of rock, to the waves. 
Eastward, over Gloucestershire and the neigh- 
bouring counties, such a variety of hills and 
valleys, verdant lawns and waving woods, 
embowered hamlets and handsome villas ap- 
peared, that the eye was at a loss where to 
rest for pre-eminent beauty. Light clouds 
floated in the atmosphere ; and the sun, 
" sparing of light;"' distributed its mys in 
partial streaks ; but the varied illumination 
rather heightened than diminished the charms 
of the picture. We turned from this assem- 
blage of nature's wealth, this delightful land- 
scape, with regret, and descended among 
the adjoining plantations of Sir Robert Salis- 
bury, Messrs. Sykes, Kemeys, and Philips, 
towards Caldecot level ; a large tract of land, 
similar to that of Wentloog, rescued from the 
inroads of the sea by human industry. Near 
the western extremity of this plain rises the 
peninsulated promontory of Gold Cliff, so 
called from a glittering yellow mica incor- 
porated with the rock, and which is even 
now considered by the peasants as indicating 

a gold 






CHAP-. XIII. CHRIST CHURCH. 197 

a gold mine. The brow of the cliff was for- 
merly dignified with an opulent priory, 
founded by Robert de Chandos anno 1113 : 
its small remains are incorporated into a barn, 
and other buildings of a farm-house. 

Returning, we took a hasty view 7 " of Christ- 
church, an ordinary building chiefly Gothic; 
but a Saxon arch reposing on low columns, 
which forms the entrance, indicates that the 
greater part of the present structure is en- 
grafted upon an older foundation. Within,, a 
Gothic screen of exquisite workmanship, se- 
parating the chancel from the nave, was for- 
merly much admired ; but it is now shame- 
fully injured. A curious sepulchral monu- 
ment here is deemed miraculous, on the eve 
of the circumcision, in curing sick children. 
Formerly the tomb was crowded with the 
little subjects of credulity, who were bound 
to remain in contact with the stone during 
the night; but, the natural agency of a warm 
bed being found more favourable to conva- 
lescence than the miraculous interposition, 
the fees of the sexton have of late conside- 
rably diminished. The public house near 
the church was the ancient manse. 

o 3 A descent 



198 CAERLE0N. CHAP. XIII. 

A descent of alarming steepness led us to* 
ward the ancient town ofCAERLEON, through 
its suburb, a long narrow village, still bearing 
the classical appellation of Ultra Pontem. 
We crossed the Usk by a narrow wooden 
bridge with a flooring of loose planks, and 
immediately entered the town, the Isca Si- 
lurum of Antoninus, the station of the second 
legion, and the principal Roman town in the 
country of the Silures, now so far diminished 
as scarcely to occupy one sixth of the area 
within the Roman w r alls. It was, however, in 
a declining state so far back as the fourteenth 
century, as appears from the following ac- 
count given by Giraldus : " Many remains 
" of its former magnificence are still visible* 
" Splendid palaces, which once emulated 
" with their gilded roofs the grandeur of 
ft Rome; for it was originally built by the 
" Roman princes, and adorned with stately 
tc edifices. A gigantic tower; numerous 
"baths; ruins of a temple and a theatre, 
" the walls of which are partly standing, 
66 Here we still see, both within and without 
it the walls, subterraneous buildings, aque- 
?f ducts, and vaulted caverns, and stoves so 

ff excellently 



CHAP. XIII. CAERLE0N. 199 

'^excellently contrived as to convey their 
" heat through secret and imperceptible 
" pores." This description has been followed 
in a compiled Tour published not long since, 
and, by an unfortunate mistake, given as its 
present appearance. Alas ! it exhibits a me- 
lancholy reverse : 

The cloud- capt towers, 
The gorge©us palaces, 
The solemn temples, 

are dissolved : the town is a poor straggling 
place ; and vestiges of its former magnifi- 
cence must be curiously sought after to be 
seen at all. Statues, altars, columns, ele- 
gant freizes, sarcophagi, coins and intaglios, 
have been making their appearance during 
several ages ; but they are immediately car- 
ried away by curious persons, or more fre- 
quently applied to domestic uses. An altar 
with a Roman inscription had been dug up 
just before our arrival, and we were con- 
ducted by an obliging gentleman of the town 
to the garden in which it was found ; where 
we saw the venerable monument of antiquity 
just finished slicing into half a dozen slabs 
for paving. 

o 4 The 



200 CAERLEON. CHAP. XIII, 

The Roman fortification forms an oblong 
square, with the corners a little rounded *, 
and unfurnished with towers. Many frag^ 
ments of the walls accompanied by the fosse 
are evident ; deprived of the facing^stones, 
they appear in great masses of grout-work ; 
i. €. of stones, broken tiles, and bricks pro- 
miscuously bedded in cement. The remains 
are no where more than fourteen feet high., 
which is much less than their original ele^ 
vation, and ten or twelve in thickness. Their 
circumference does nojt exceed 1 $00 yards ; 
but the adjacent fields are continually yield- 
ing up foundations, &c. which denote the 
suburbs to have been very extensive: tradition, 
indeed, reports them to have been nine miles 
round. The castle stood between the walls 
and the river, of which some small vestiges 
appear at the Hanbury Arms J f. At a little 
distance from this place, on the opposite side 
of the road, we noticed a high artificial mound 
about 30Q yards in circumference, which is 

* In ancient military architecture ee circinatio angulo- 
rum y a plan condemned by Vitruvius, because it rather 
sheltered the besiegers than the besieged, (f quia hosiery 
magis tuentur quam civem." 

f A decent little inn, and the only one in the town. 

the 



CHAP. XIII, CAERLEON, 201 

the site of the citadel described by Giraldus 
$s gigantic. The small remains of its walls 
appear to consist of solid masonry ; but this 
part of the fortification is, po doubt, posterior 
to the rest, and was most likely erected by 
the Normans. 

The house of Miss Morgan, formerly a 
Cistercian abbey, has been entirely new-faced 
with squared stones collected from the ruins 
of Caerleon, as have also many others in the 
town. This lady has collected several Roman 
coins, and has other curiosities in her pos- 
session that we would gladly have examined, 
and were offered an introduction for that pur- 
pose ; but our way-worn apparel (a false 
shame, if the reader insist upon it) was an 
obstacle in our way of accepting it. Other 
Roman vestiges appear in the market-house 
of Caerleon, which is supported by four mas- 
sive Tuscan pillars. Immediately without 
the town, and adjoining Miss Morgan's pre- 
mises, is the Roman amphitheatre, com- 
monly called Arthur's round table. It is an 
oval concavity, seventy-four yards by sixty- 
four, and six deep ; in which are ranges of 
stone seats, though now covered with earth 
and verdure. The foundation of its en- 
circling 



202 st. julian's. chap. xiii. 

circling walls was met with on digging in the 
year 1106, when a statue of Diana and two 
ornamental pedestals were also discovered. 

In the neighbourhood of Caerleon are se- 
veral encampments that were probably used 
for airing the troops in summer. The most 
remarkable are, that of the Lodge, occupy- 
ing a hill in the park of Lantarnam, about a 
mile north-west of Caerleon ; the one of 
Penros, a short distance to the left of the road 
totTsk; that atMayndee, near Christ-chufch ; 
and a fourth in the wood of St. Julian's, to- 
wards Newport. Near the latter spot a cha- 
pel of high antiquity, dedicated to St. Julius, 
is now used as a barn. But St. Julian's is 
more remarkable for a Gothic mansion, once 
the residence of the ingenious, valiant, and 
vain lord Herbert of Cherbury. 

Edward, first lord Herbert of Cherbury, 
Was born anno 1581 : his infancy was re- 
markable for mental and bodily weakness ; 
but he soon became distinguished as a scho- 
lar and a valiant knight. Most of the living 
languages and every elegant accomplishment 
engaged his study. We learn from the his-* 
tory of his life, written by himself (in which 
he is considered to be the most chivalrous, 

learned, 



€HAP, XIII. LORD HERBERT. 203 

learned, handsome, discerning, and wonder- 
ful gentleman that ever figured in story), 
that at fifteen he took to himself a wife ; and 
being a few years afterwards presented at court, 
his love-inspiring attractions excited the 
rusty passions of Elizabeth, then seventy years 
of age. — " The queen," says the noble bio^ 
grapher, " looked attentively upon me, 
" and swearing her ordinary oath, said, 
P It is pity he was married so young," and 
*' thereupon gave me her hand to kiss twice ; 
" both times gently clapping me on the 
" cheek." The consorts of Lewis the Thir* 
teenth and James the First were still more 
fascinated by this mighty conqueror of hearts, 
who excited jealousy even in the breast of 
royalty ! Many enamoured dames of the 
court wearing his picture in . their bosoms 
brought him in hourly danger of assassination 
from their enraged husbands : yet his mira- 
culous courage and address ensured victory in 
every encounter. Among numerous excel- 
lencies, that distinguished his clay from the 
common material of mortality, the noble 
lord declares, " it is well known to them 
i( that wait in my chamber, that the shirts, 
" waistcoats, and other garments I wear next 
g "my 



204* LANTARNAM. CHAP. XIII. 

'* my body, are sweet beyond what either 
f* can be believed or hath been observed in 
" any body else ; which sweetness was also 
" found to be in my breath before I used 
" to take tobacco. " With all this extrava- 
gance, which may be set to the account of 
old age, often vain and garrulous, Lord Her- 
bert may be justly considered one of the first 
characters of the age and country in which he 
lived. 

Lantarnam house and park, situated about 
a mile and a half from Caerleon, near the 
road from Newport to Pont-y-pool, occupy 
the site of a rich Cistercian abbey. The man- 
sion is a neglected gloomy structure, which 
appears to have been erected about the reign 
of Elizabeth, and chiefly out of the materials 
of the abbey. A large Gothic gateway and 
the monks cells, now converted into stabling, 
are vestiges of the parent building. 

The accounts that we had collected of 
Pont-y-pool did not incline us to abandon the 
line of our tour to visit it. The town, suffi- 
ciently large and populous, yet blackened by 
neighbouring coal and iron works, and situ- 
ated in a dreary region only rich in mineral 
treasure, would hardly prove interesting but 

to 



CHAP. XIII. LANGIBBY. 205 

to those concerned in its traffic. Its first con- 
sequence arose from a manufacture of japan- 
ned ware invented in the time of Charles the 
Second, which remained a long time peculiar 
to the town, but is now generally understood. 
In its immediate vicinity Pont-y-pool Park, 
the seat of Hanbury Leigh, Esq. forms a con- 
spicuous ornament, and is described by Mr. 
Coxe as possessing a good collection of 
pictures. 

Our road from Caerleon to Usk, leaving 
the house and encampment of Penros on the 
left, led up an ascent from which we had an 
interesting view of the surrounding district. 
A narrow valley winds round the base of the 
eminence watered by the Usk, The oppo- 
site boundary of the valley sustained the 
woods of Kemey's and Berth oily; and in 
the contrary direction the eye ranges over 
the venerable groves of Lantarnam, and a 
wavy intervening country to the distant 
mountains near Abergavenny. Within two 
miles of Usk we entered Langibby, a small 
village, only to be noticed for an ancient 
mansion of the Williams's family near it. 
This structure, attributed to the erection of 
Inigo Jones, contains no distinguishing points 

of 



20$ LANGIBBY CASTLE. CHAP. XIII. 

of architecture ; but the house and grounds 
command delightful views, which receive no 
inconsiderable interest from the local pos- 
session of a majestic ruin. Langibby Cas- 
tle rears its mouldering battlements on the 
brow of a bold hill, completely overspread 
with wood. We have no certain accounts 
when this castle was built ; but the pointed 
arches that occur throughout the ruin denote 
its erection to have been posterior to the first 
settlement of the Normans in these parts. It 
formerly belonged to the Clares Earls of 
Gloucester; but has been upwards of two 
centuries in the family of the present pos- 
sessor. Of this line was Sir Trevor Williams, 
a zealous supporter of the parliamentary cause 
in the civil wars, when Langibby castle was 
spoken of by Cromwell as a fortress of strength 
and importance. 

Our approach to Usk was traced through 
its vale on a bank of the river, and beneath 
a high hill entirely shaded with wood : close 
to our left appeared the whitened Gothic 
church of Lanbadock : but the handsome 
bridge of Usk, the antique town and ivy- 
mantled castle, formed more interesting ob- 
jects in successive distances ; while, afar off, 

the 



CHAP. XIII, USK. 207 

the varied line of the mountains near Aber- 
gavenny, the craggy summit of the Skyridd, 
and the abrupt cone of the Sugar-loaf, con- 
trasting the lofty even swell of the Blorenge, 
presented a terminating line of the most pic- 
turesque description. This distance alone 
was illumined by the sun ; for the evening 
drew to a close, and all our home view was 
wrapt in one grand shadow. 



CHAP. 



[ 20 * ] 



C H A P. XIV. 



USK CASTLE AND CHURCH' — EXCURSION" 
TO RAGLAN ELEGANT RUINS OF RAG- 
LAN CASTLE — -VIEWS FROM THE DE- 

VAUDON ROMAN ANTIQUITIES AT 

CAERWENT TESSELATED PAVEMENT. 

USK, supposed to be the Burrium of the 
Romans, occupies a flat situation on the banks 
of its river. Though now a small place, in 
great part untenanted and falling to ruin *, 
it was formerly of very considerable extent 
The form and dimensions of its ancient boun- 
dary may be traced in an imperfect rampart 
among the adjoining fields and orchards. 
The figure is not oblong, as most Roman 
works of the kind were, but irregularly recti- 
linear. On a gentle eminence in the northern 

* These ruins are attributed to the ravages of Owen Glen- 
dower, who sacked and burnt the town. 

precinct 



CHAP. XIV. tl&K CASTLE, Q09 

precinct of the town is the castle, famous in 
history for withstanding many a fierce as* 
sault ; but the ruin has little picturesque at- 
traction : such parts as are not converted to 
the domestic purposes of a farm-yard are so 
enveloped in ivy, as scarcely to afford a cha- 
racterizing form externally. We entered the 
castle through a Gothic gateway : vestiges of 
the baronial hall appear on the east side ; and 
some of the towers, with round arched aper- 
tures, seem of the earliest construction : but 
we have no certain accounts when the castle 
was founded. 

Not far from the castle is the church, still 
a large structure, though much contracted 
from its original extent. The tower, in which 
circular arches are introduced, is the oldest 
part of the edifice ; the body of the church 
is Gothic. This church belonged to a Bene- 
dictine priory of five nuns; and part of the 
priory-house is now standing, a little southward 
of the church, in the occupation of a farmer. 
The common prison, a. Gothic building near 
the bridge, was formerly a Roman. Catholic 

chapel *. 

TIi ere 

* From Usk to Abergavenny, the road passes several ob- 
jects worthy of a tourist's notice. I must here borrow from 

e Mr. 



210 ENCAMPMENT. CHAP. XIV. 

There are several ancient encampments 
the neighbourhood of Usk. That of Craeg* 
y-garcyd, crowning a woody precipice on 
the west side of the river, about a mile above 
the town, is supposed by Harris to be Roman. 
Its figure is very irregular, and remarkable for 
seven very large tumuli within the rampart. 
About two miles from Usk, in our way to 
Raglan, we passed Campwood on our left, 

Mr. Coxe's survey, not having travelled on the road. The 
church of Kemys Commander, between three and four miles 
from Usk, to the left of the road, is a small Gothic struc- 
ture j its cemetery is remarkable for a hollow yew-tree, 
fifteen feet in girth, within which is inclosed an oak not less 
than seven feet in circumference ; its branches shadow the 
parent trunk, forming a singular combination of foliage. 
The church of Bettus Newydd, on the right of the road in 
the same neighbourhood, is noticeable for the entire state of 
its ancient rood-loft. A mile and a half further the road is 
graced with an elegant Gothic gateway, of modern execution, 
appertaining to Clytha house, the seat of William Jones, 
Esq. j and near it is Clytha castle, a structure erected by Mr. 
Jones to the memory of a beloved wife. At seven miles 
from Usk, to the right of the road, is the old mansion of . 
Lansanfread, a residence of James Green, Esq. M. P. for 
Arundel. Colebrook, about two miles further, and nearly 
the same distance from Abergavenny, is a seat of Sir John 
Hanbury Williams. The house was an irregular old pile, 
with square towers at each angle, until about fifty years 
since, when the present front and Doric portico were 
erected, from a design of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, of 
diplomatic and facetious memory. 

another 



CHAP. XIV. RIDE TO RAGLAN. 211 

another encampment, of an oval figure, en- 
tirely covered with wood, but not remarkable 
either in its situation or construction. 

Our ride to Raglan traversed a bold undu- 
lating country of uncommon richness, where 
the luxuriance of the soil was alike conspicuous 
in impervious woods or teeming orchards 
sweeping over the hills, and verdant mea* 
dows sweetly carpeting the vallies. 

" When mora, her rosy steps in th' eastern clime 
<( Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl," 

we began our journey ; and this range of 
fertility but disclosed itself in partial gleams 
through the exhaling dew, as we ascended 
a hill from Usk. Advancing, the mists dis- 
appeared, and we quickly found ourselves in 
a sequestered valley, whose high encircling 
hills were variously decorated with a pro- 
fusion of wood : the morning sun brilliantly 
shone on the dewy verdure; and we were 
admiring the charming scenery, while our 
spirits partook of its cheerfulness, when a 
huntsman's horn resounded from a neighbour- 
ing thicket, and echoed through the hills : 
a deep-mouthed pack, joining in full chorus, 
announced a throw in g-off. The concert con- 
p 2 tinucd, 



212 RIDE TO RAGLAN. CHAP. XIV 






finued, though the performers remained un- 
seen as we anxiously skirted the dale ; but 
our road soon took an ascent, in the precise 
direction of the hunt ; and, gaining an emi- 
nence, a new vale and its accompanyments 
opened to us, yet without the hunting party. 
However, we had not long gazed in disap- 
pointment when, from the dark umbrage of 
a thick wood, the hounds rushed forward 
like a wave over the meadows ; the men and 
horses were not far behind ; but, scouring a 
descent that would have scared a lowland 
sportsman, pursued the game, which conti- 
nued out of sb'ht. But at length we saw 
Reynard skulk from a ditchy fence in a field 
before us, and dash across the meadows : 
the hounds and hunters were close at his 
heels. A loud shout from the party, a supe- 
rior yell in the clogs, and the strained exer- 
tions of the animal, proclaimed a general view : 
we heartily joined in the halloo ; and even 
our sorry jades displayed unusual spirit ; for 
.they pricked up their ears, and absolutely 
began a gallop to join in the chase ; but a 
gate near a yard high opposed an insur- 
mountable obstacle" to that intention, and 
obliged us to remain inactive spectators while 

the 



CHAP. XIV. RAGLAN CASTLE. 213 

the party veered up a woody hill and finally 
disappeared from us. 

Reluctantly parting from this animating 
scene, we entered the little village of Rag- 
lan ; where an old woman, knitting at the 
door of her cottage, proffered her service to 
take care of our horses while we walked over 
a fallow field to the superh ruins of Raglan 
Castle. 

The approach led up a gentle eminence,; 
but a screen of high elms and thick under- 
wood, issuing from the moat, intervened be- 
tween us and the castle, which remained 
concealed, until, penetrating the thicket, a 
display of the ruin burst upon us, elegantly 
beautiful ! Sweetly picturesque ! No the- 
atrical scene was ever designed in a happier 
taste, or unfolded itself to admiring beholders 
with a more sudden and impressive effect. 
In this coup d y (zii, the Gothic portal and two 
elegant embattled towers immediately ar- 
rested the eye. Of the polygonal towers 
that formerly defended the entrance, one is 
completely hidden in a majestic mantle of 
iw; which descends in a profuse festoon over 
the gateway. The other, admirably con- 
trasting, and iii a most perfect state of pre- 
p 3 servation, 



214 RAGLAN CASTLE. CHAP. XIV. 

servation, rears its beautiful machicolated sum- 
mit with scarcely any leafy incumbrance : 
yet a few tasteful tufts of ivy sparingly issue 
from the windows and oillets of the tower, 
and wave their elegant tendrils over the 
glistening polish of the walls*. Another 
tower of similar beauty, but superior dimen- 
sions, appears a little further, at the eastern 
angle of the structure. On the other side of 
the porch, the ruins are concealed by a pro- 
fuse pile of ivy ; but some lofty portions of 
the ruin start from the verdure with consider 
rable elegance; "and two windows, standing 
cne over the other, exhibit an effect of orna- 
mental relief in their freizes and mouldings 
that would not discredit any age. 

From this assemblage of beautiful objects 
we fixed our attention on the massive citadel,, 
placed rather obliquely in front of the orna- 
mented ruins. One half of this structure was 
blown up by order of Cromwell, upon the 

*? The walls here and in many other parts ©f the rain are 
not deprived of their facing stones, as is generally the case 
with these remaining monuments of baronial splendour ; 
but, constructed of a superior sort of light grey stone, they 
still exhibit a specimen of exquisite masonry; and where 
they have not been wilfully dilapidated appear as perfect as if 
just finished. 

taking 



CHAP. XIV. RAGLAN CASTLE. e 2\5 

taking of the castle by Fairfax : from the re- 
maining section it appears to have been a 
hexagonal building of five stories, whose sides 
were flanked by semicircular bastions cover- 
ing each angle. The citadel is surrounded 
by a moat and terrace, with a wall, in which 
appear niches, once adorned with statues of 
the Roman emperors. The rough and 
threatening aspect of these broken walls, and 
the ponderous bulk of disjointed fragments, 
falling in the same point of view with the 
gentle and decorative parts just described, 
strongly contrast each other, and heighten the 
varied character of the picture. 

This charming .morceau was illumined by 
a morning sun, which shone direct on the 
marble-like surface of the towers, bringing 
forward all the.'r elegance of form and en- 
richment with decisive superiority. The se- 
condary objects of the ruin, overhung with 
ivy, and denied the direct light of the sun, 
retired in a low tint ; but at the left extremity 
of the picture, the craggy and advancing ci- 
tadel caught some of the strongest lights and 
shades, forming an admirable bit of fore- 
ground to the piece. Although I am of opi- 
nion, that by a morning light this subject is 

p 4 . een 



215 RAGLAN CASTLE. CHAP. XIV* 

seen by far to the greatest advantage, yet 
treated with an afternoon effect, by the ju- 
dicious pencil of Sir Richard Hoare, it has 
formed a charming picture. This View the 
engraver has ably transmitted to the publick 
in Mr. Coxe's Survey of Monmouthshire. 

Delighted with this first view, we traversed 
the porch defended by two portcullisses, and 
entered the principal court of the castle. 
The interior wore the same style of magnifi- 
cence that we so much admired without. 
In superior grandeur projected the great win- 
dow of the hail, majestically canopied with 
i?y ; a variegated verdure covered the once- 
paved area, and climbed the lofty sides of 
the ruin. In some places the fondling ivy 
ran through the forsaken chambers, and em- 
bowered the apertures of the windows ; while 
in many shadowy recesses, where the early 
sun had not penetrated, the dewy spangles 
of morning still decorated the dwarfy ash, or 
tremulously bedecked the waving thistle. 
So admirably were the different parts dis- 
posed, so picturesquely relieved, that the 
whole seemed rather a fairy creation, than 
the fortuitous combination of undirected 
nature. 

After 



CHAP. XIV. RAGLAN CASTLE. 217 

After enjoying these general effects, we 
proceeded to examine the apartments of the 
castle. These do not in any part seem of 
very remote erection, but appear to have 
been constructed at different periods between 
the ages of Henry the Fifth and Elizabeth ; 
yet, though a disunion of style be visible to 
the Antiquary, no discordance of effect 
arises in any instance. Of the first court, the 
principal entrance, and a range of once ele> 
gant rooms, occupy the south side ; the ba^- 
ronial hall, and some other noble apartments, 
fill up the western part of the court ; the. cu- 
linary and other domestic offices, with the 
servants habitations, appear to have occupied 
the north and east sides : at the angle of 
their junction, a pentagonal tower contained 
the kitchen, and a small projection on the 
east side was the oven. A broken flight of 
steps afforded us the means of ascent to the 
superior apartments, where we acjmired the 
works of our fore-fathers in some lightly-orna- 
mented chimney-pieces and Gothic moulds 
ings. The baronial hall has suffered less 
from time than from the pilfering attempts of 
the neighbourhood : some traces of its for- 
mer grandeur may be seen in its stately 

dimensions ; 



21& RAGLAN CASTLE. CHAP. XIV, 

dimensions; a prodigious fire-place ; and a 
few remnants of ornament, including the 
stone-sculptured arms of the Marquis of 
Worcester, at one end of the hall: this 
place, once the scene of banqueting and 
splendour, is now used as a fives-court. Here 
a fresh instance might be collected of the 
fleeting state of sublunary greatness ; but so 
many have been brought forward by the great 
geniusses of all ages, while every little one 
feels the truth without benefiting by the 
knowledge, that we will not stop to enlarge 
on so hopeless a subject ; but proceed, where 
barons bold have often trod, through the 
western portal of the hall to the chapel. Few 
vestiges remain of this structure ; but some 
of its springing arches, rising from grotesque 
heads, are imperfectly visible ; and two 
whole-length figures, coarsely executed, ap- 
pear through the thick-woven ivy. From 
this place we entered the area of the second 
court, once adorned with a marble fountain 
and an equestrian statue ; but now planted 
with fruit-trees : this court is surrounded by 
a range of secondary yet capital apartments. 

The subterraneous appendages of the dastle 
are uncommonly extensive, according with 

the 



CHAP, XIV, RAGLAN CASTLE. 219 

the great plan of the building ; eastward of 
which is the grange and out-houses, now 
converted into a farming habitation. — Rag- 
lan Castle was one of the latest that held out 
for the royal cause against Cromwell ; and 
the intrench ments raised for its defence, and 
against it, may be readily traced in the ad- 
joining fields *• 

Returning 

* List of the household, and method of living, at Raglan 
Castle, by the Earl of Worcester, in the reign of Charles 
the First, 1641. 

At eleven o'clock in the forenoon the castle gates were 
shut, and the tables laid ; two in the dining-room 3 three in 
the hall ; one in Mrs. Watson's apartment, where the chap- 
lains eat (Sir Toby Matthews being the first) ; and two ili 
the housekeeper's room, for the ladies' women. 

The Earl entered the dining-room, attended by his gentle- 
men. As soon as he was seated, Sir Ralph Blackstone, 
steward of the house, retired. The comptroller, Mr. Hol- 
land, attended with his stair, as did the sewer Mr. Black- 
burne ; the daily waiters, Mr. Clough, Mr. Selby, Mr. 
Scudamore ; and many gentlemen's sons, with estates from 
two to seven hundred pounds a year, who were bred up in 
the castle ; my lady's gentlemen of tJ-.e chamber, Mr. Mor- 
. gan and Mr. Fox. At the first table sat the noble family, 
and such of the nobility as came there. 

At the second table, in the dining-room, sat knights and 
honourable gentlemen attended by footmen. 

In the hall, at the first table, sat Sir Ralph Blackstone, 
Steward \ the comptroller, Mr. Holland 5 the secretary j the 
master of the Horse, Mr. Dolowar : the master of the Fish- 

ponds,, 



£20 RAGLAN CHURCH. CHAP. XIV. 

Returning from this interesting ruin, we 
passed Raglan church, a small Gothic build- 
ing, containing a few mutilated monuments 
of the Beaufort and Worcester families ; and 
proceeded on the turnpike-road to Chepstow. 

Our route soon took a long and laborious as- 

ponds, Mr. Andrews ; my Lord Herbert's preceptor, Mr. 
Adams ; with such gentlemen as came there under the de- 
gree of a knight, attended by footmen, and plentifully served 
with wine. 

At the second table In the hall (served from my Lord^s- 
table,, and with other hot meats)' sat the sewer, with the 
gentlemen waiters and pages, to the number of twenty-four. 

At the third table, in the hall, sat the clerk of the kitchen, 
with the yeomen officers of the house, two grooms of the 
chamber, &c. 

Other officers of the household were, chief auditor, Mr. 
Smith ; clerk of the accounts, George Whithorn ; purveyor 
of the castle Mr. Salisbury; ushers of the hall, Mr. Moyle 
and Mr. Cooke ; closet-keeper ; gentleman of the chapel, 
Mr. D-avies ; keeper of the records ; master of the wardrobe ; 
master of the armoury ; master grooms of the stable for 
the war-horses, twelve; master of the hounds ; master fal- 
coner ; porter and his man. Two butchers ; two keepers of 
the home-park ; two keepers of the red-deer park. Foot- 
men, grooms, and other menial servants, to the number of 
ij:o. Some of the footmen were brewers and bakers. 

Out Officers : Steward of Raglan, William Jones, Esq.; 
the governor of Chepstow Castle, Sir Nicholas Kemys, 
Bart. ; housekeeper of Worcester-house in London, James 
Redman, Esq. 5 thirteen Bailiffs; two counsel for the bailiffs 
to have recourse to 5 solicitor, Mr. John Smith. 

cent* 



CHAP. XIV. DEVAUDON. 221 

cent, from the summit of which we obtained 
an extensive view over the middle parts of 
Monmouthshire, an undulating tract of un- 
common fertility and high cultivation. The 
line of distant mountains that we admired in 
the approach to Usk, here appeared strongly- 
diversified and singularly picturesque, with 
the continuous ridge of the Black moun- 
tains to the west. Another considerable height 
about three miles further commanded a si- 
milar v 7 iew ; from which a short ride led us 
to the summit of the Devaudon ; a remark- 
able elevation, whence a prodigious view is 
ordinarily obtained, not only over the coun- 
try northward, but in the opposite direction, 
over the Bristol channel and its opposing 
shores. A severe shower, however, obliged us 
to relinquish this view, and seek shelter beneath 
the boughs of Chepstow park, as we branched 
oft on the turnpike towards Caerwent. 

Upon the storm abating, we wound down 
the Devaudon, and descended into an agree-* 
able valley, whose opposite hills were clothed 
with wild forest-trees : the decayed town 
of Share Newton occupied the summit of 
a high hill bordering the vale in the di- 
rection of our route. We passed through 

thiai 



222 CAERWENT* CHAP. XI V% 

this town (a mere collection of cottages), 
and about half way towards the village of 
Crick turned off the road to visit Wrunston, 
an ecclesiastical ruin concealed in a seques- 
tered thicket. The picturesque remnant of a 
small chapel is the only part standing ; but 
extensive foundations and broad causeways 
declare the place to have been once conside- 
rable. — From Crick, a genteel village, we 
proceeded over an old Roman causeway * to 
Caerwent, the Venta Silurum of the Romans. 
Caerwent occupies a gently-inclining 
plane in a low situation. A few small dwell- 
ings mark the site of the ancient town ; the 
fortifications of which form an oblong pa- 
ralellogram, whose width is equal to two- 
ninths of its length, with the corners a little, 
rounded ; a frequent figure in Roman mili- 
tary works, called Terriata castra. The cor- 

* The Romans constructed their roads with large masses of 
stone closely layed together : each piece was often six or seven 
feet long and carefully squared. The road to Caerwent, 
formed on such a foundation, though passing through a low 
swampy country, is observed to be uncommonly compact 
and dry. Thus the utility of that once great people's work 
is transmitted through the constant wear of fifteen centuries; 
and excites the admiration of even our own enlightened 
age. 

ners 



CHAP. XIV. CAERWENT* $23 

neis of the walls nearly correspond with the 
four cardinal points. On the south-west side 
are three pentagonal bastions; from which 
circumstance some authors have conjectured 
the erection of the town to have taken place 
under the lower empire, as flanking pro- 
jections were not in use before that period ; 
but it is justly supposed to be equally proba- 
ble, that they were added after the general 
embattlement. The circuit of the rampart, 
near a mile in extent, may still be traced, in 
most places surrounded by a deep moat ; the 
wall is constructed of grout-work faced with 
squared lime-stone; but the facings have 
been for the most part removed for private 
uses. From the present ruinous state of the 
walls, we cannot speak with certainty of their 
former height ; but it appears to have varied 
considerably ; perhaps eighteen feet may be 
a good medium : they are about twelve feet 
in thickness at their base, and nine at top. 
A fragment of the wall, nearly twenty feet 
in length and twelve high, has fallen near the 
southern angle; and, although the ponderous 
ruin revolved in its fall, the mass remains un- 
shattered and impenetrable. Such is the 
boundary of a spot once crowded with palaces 

and 



22£ CAERWENT. CHAP. Xlt. 

and temples : at present, the church and 
parsonage, a farm-house, a public-house, 
and a few scattered cottages, chiefly built 
with squared stones of the Roman town, are 
the only buildings on the area, which is ge- 
nerally laid out in fields and orchards. But 
ancient foundations, projecting above the 
level, and concealed under green hillocks, 
rise in many places; and- elegant columns, 
tesselated pavements, and coins, are continu- 
ally met with in ploughing and digging. 

We saw a tesselated or mosaic pavement, 
that was formerly much admired, in an or- 
chard behind the farm-house ; which is thus 
described by Mr. Wyndham in his tour, per- 
formed between thirty and forty years since : 
" The pavement is in length twenty-one feet 
" six inches, and in breadth eighteen feet, 
" A border, edged with the Greek scroll and 
"fret, surrounds the whole; but on the 
" north side, the border, being upwards of 
" three feet, is much broader than the other 
" side. This was designed in order to reduce 
" the circles within a square. These circles 
" are about three feet in diameter, and are 
" encircled with a variety of elegant orna- 
" ments, and separated from each other by 
1 " regular 



CHAP. XIV. CAERWENT. 225 

" regular and equal distances* I think there 
M are thirteen of these circles. The pieces 
M of which the pavement is composed ape 
" nearly sq&aixs, the breadth of them being 
" about the size of a common die* These, 
" are of various colours, blue, white, yel* 
*' low, and red ; the first and second are of 
" stone, and the yellow and red are of terra 
" cotta. By a judicious mixture of these 
" coiours, the whole pattern is as strongly 
-' described as it would have been in oil co* 
" lours. The original level is perfectly pre- 4 
" served ; and the wliolc composition is so 
" elegant and well executed, that I think it 
" lias not been surpassed by any mosaic 
" pavement that has been discovered on this, 
11 or even on the other side of the Alps* In 
" my opinion, it is equal to those beautiful 
" pavements which are preserved in the pa* 
" lace of the king of Naples at Portice. I 
" am strongly inclined to think that it is of 
" the same age of Agricola." On this pave- 
ment being discovered, a building was erected 
to shelter it from the weather, by order of 
the proprietor, Mr. Lewis, of St. Pierre ; but 
the brewhouse wanted a roof, and this, being 
found of similar dimensions, was transferred 

Q to 



226* CAERWENT. CHAP. XIV, 

to the brewhouse ; the farmer holding his ale 
in much greater veneration than relics of an- 
tiquity. In consequence of neglect, this cu- 
riosity is no longer an object of beauty ; ex- 
posed to the weather, the surface became 
broken up ; every one being allowed to take 
away as many of the tessera as he pleased ; 
but a small portion remains ; and that is so 
overgrown with grass as to be with difficulty 
distinguished. In this orchard, and near the 
southern extremity of the wall, is a mound, 
which is most probably the site of the explo- 
ratory, or watch-tower. 



C II A P. 



I 227 ] 



CHAP. XV. 



\ventwood forest excursion to the 

castles of dinham j lanvair ; 
striguil; pencoed; and penhow — * 
comprising extensive views from 

the pencamawr, &c. caldecot 

castle — a tale of other times- 
new passage sudbrook encamp- 

ment — -and chapel — - st. pierre — < 
mathern palace moinscoi/rt, 

HAVING satisfied ourselves with the an- 
tiquities of Caerwent, we planned an excur- 
sion, to comprise the six castles mentioned 
by the author of " Secret Memoirs of Mon- 
mouthshire" as surrounding the forest of 
We nt wood. These were erected soon after 
the Normans established themselves in Mon- 
mouthshire, in order to keep the natives in 
check, who were wont to sally from their 
Q 2 impe- 



228 LANVAIR CASTLE. CHAP. XV. 

impenetrable fastnesses in the woods, and 
take a severe revenge on their conquerors 
and oppressors. Great part of this forest still 
exists in its original wildness, although it has 
been considerably curtailed by late enclosures. 
The castles enumerated are, Din ham, Pen- 
how, Pencoed, Lanvasches, Lanvair, and 
Castrogy or StriguiL On a bridle-road, ex- 
tending to Share Newton, we proceeded to 
the village of Dinham, a poor place con- 
sisting of a few farm-houses and cottages : we 
had some difficulty in discovering the ruins 
of its castle, which consist of some low walls 
obscured by trees ; merely pointing out its 
site on a gentle eminence near the borders of 
the forest. The ruin is called in the neigh- 
bourhood the old chapel. There being no- 
thing here to fix our attention, we made the 
best of our way to Lanvair Castle, si- 
tuated on a small rise about two miles from 
Caerwent, near the' road to Usk. In our ap- 
proach to the ruin, an effect caught through 
intervening trees was pleasing and pic- 
turesque ; but the ruin aspires not to gran- 
deur, and is in a great degree concealed by 
embowering verdure : a nearer inspection of 
the castle increased our opinion of its former 
5 extent 



CHAP. XV. PENCAMAWR. 229 

extent and prowess ; large foundations are 
evident ; and the walls are nowhere less than 
seven feet in thickness: a square and two 
round towers are the most conspicuous fea- 
tures of the ruin, which is in part moulded 
into a farm-house : the area of the principal 
court is employed as a kitchen-garden. Be- 
neath the castellated eminence is the village- 
church, a simple rustic building ; passing 
which, and proceeding on the road to Usk, 
we quickly entered the forest of Wentwood. 
In this tmct a dreary ride among dark woods, 
and russet heaths, laboriously ascending, 
brought us to the Pencamawr summit ; a 
remarkable eminence in the loiiq; ridge of hills 
crossing the midland parts of Monmouthshire, 
from the vicinity of Caerlcon to the banks of 
the Wye near Lanidagp. 

Here a prospect greatly extensive opened 
to us. Beyond the wild region prevailing 
about our eminence, broken into a rapid suc- 
cession of high hills and deep valleys, the 
winding Usk, with its emeraldic valley, ac- 
companied with numerous villas and rich 
hanging woods, appeared in ail its beauty. 
The bold character of the foreground, soon 
melting into a gentle undulation, displayed a 

Q 3 scene 



230 STRIGUIL CASTLE. CHAP. XV ? 

scene of cultivation and productiveness of 
great extent; while/ afar off, the line of 
distant mountains about Abergavenny, which 
we had before admired, again presented it^- 
self; somewhat varied, but not diminished 
in excellence. Nor was the view southward 
less extensive, comprehending a great part of 
the Bristol channel, with its receding coast. 

Slowly proceeding down a steep decli- 
vity, and admiring the prospect before us, 
we soon reached Striguil, or Troggy 
Castle, as it is generally called, standing 
in a marshy field at the bottom of the hill. 
The small remains of this fortress are so pro-? 
fusely overspread with ivy, and the pendent 
foliage of wide-branching trees, that an ac- 
curate judgement can scarcely be formed of 
its architecture : but where the structure can 
be seen, pointed arches with neat facings ap- 
pear throughout ; from which circumstance 
the accuracy of Leland and Camden may be 
questioned, who date the erection of this 
castle prior to the Conquest : certainly the 
parts now standing were not constructed 
within a century subsequent to that event. 
An octagon tower and some broken walls are 
the only standing parts of the ruin ;. but the 

form 



CHAP. XV. « BERTHOLLY. £31 

form of its area may be traced, which is 
oblong, with towers defending each angle, 
and a broad moat surrounding the whole. 

Reascending the Pencamawr, a ride of 
four or five miles, upon the site of a British 
way that led from Cardiff to Monmouth, 
brought us into the turnpike-road between 
Newport and Caerwent. In this interesting 
progress, on the ridgy summit of the high 
hills bordering the Usk, our prospects were 
delightful. Occasionally excluded by the 
close thickets of the forest, and reappearing 
under different circumstances, new scenes 
were continually creating ; and that satiety in 
consequence avoided which would possibly 
have resulted from the long possession of one 
species of scene, however excellent. Not far 
distant from the Pencamawr, appear the anti- 
quated mansion, the . hanging groves, and 
dark mantling woods of Bertholly, impen- 
dent near the limpid Usk, which here makes 
one of its boldest curves, forming nearly a 
complete circle in its romantic meander. 
About two miles further, in a field on the 
right of the road, is a building called Kemys 
Folly ; from the summit of which, a range of 
prospect is obtained, scarcely to be equalled 
Q 4 for 



230 J'ENCOED CASTLE. CPIAP. XV, 

for extent and diversity. The views described 
from the Fencamawr here appear, with all 
the added charms of the scenery of the Usk, 
in this part eminently beautiful i from this 
spot also the Bristol channel displays its silvery 
surface with uncommon effect; while the 
distant shores of Somerset and Devon follow 
its course in bay and promontory, until the re- 
ceding confine, too remote for the distinction of 
sight, appears dissolved in the blue ethereal, 

From these charming scenes we descended, 
&nd in a short time left the British way, in 
joining the Newport turnpike near a public- 
house called Cat's Ash, 1 his road is for the 
ihcst part constructed on the Julia strata of the 
Romans. Where it leaves the absolute site 
of the ancient road it closely follows its course, 
and the foundation of the causeway may be 
traced in the adjoining fields; particularly in 
a meadow near the spot, where a lane from 
Linvair to Caldecot level crosses the turnpike. 
Proceeding on this road somewhat more than 
a mile, we turned off into a bridle-road on 
our right, to inspect the remains of Pekcoed 
castle afcd manor-house. These ruins are 
situated on the extreme boundary of that 
hilly tract bordering Caldecot level, over 

which 



Chap. xy. penhow castle. 233 

whicli and the Bristol channel it commands 
-a comprehensive view. Of the castle very 
tncc ie vestiges appear, in a gateway 

ocular arch and two small pentagonal 
(turrets* a round embattled tower, and some 
dilapidated walls ; yet, decorated with a pro* 
fusion of verdure, the ruin, though small, is 
picturesque and pleasing. The architecture 
of these fragments is of a more distant date 
than ro^st of the small castles in Monmouth-- 
shire, and maybe considered coeval with tha 
first establishment of the Normans in Gwent, 
i. e. Monmouthshire. The mansion, occu- 
pying the site of the baronial fortress, built 
with its materials and engrafted on its foun- 
dation, is of an architectural date between 
Henry the Eighth's reign and that of Eliza* 
beth. This neglected edifice is now partly 
occupied as a farm-house ; but indications of 
its former importance appear in the grand di- 
mensions of the apartments, and the great 
general extent of the building. 

Upon regaining the high road, we soon 
approached Penhow Castle, seated on an 
eminence, and commanding the pass of a 
wild hollow beneath : a square embattled 
toover is the leading feature of this ruin, 

which 



234* CALDECOT CASTLE. CHAP. XV. 

Which is very inconsiderable, and chiefly 
converted into a small farming habitation : 

tf There in the ruin, heedless of the dead, 
<c The shelter-seeking peasant builds his shed ; 
" And, wond'ring man could want the larger pile, 
£C Exults, and owns his cottage with a smile. 

Thus having surveyed five out of the six 
castles that formerly surrounded the forest of 
Wentwood, and learning that no traces re- 
mained of the fortress at Lanvasches, we re- 
turned to Caerwent from a circuit of about 
twenty miles. 

At an early hour in the morning we set out 
from our lowly quarters at Caerwent, and tra- 
versed a fruitful country, pleasingly varied 
with wood and pastures, in our way to Gal- 
decot Castle. The situation of this ruin 
in an undiversified swampy plain, is not calcu- 
lated to- set off its importance: viewed from 
a superior elevation in the approach, the 
towers and citadel, in themselves sufficiently 
high, appear sunk, and undistinguished from 
the curtain wall of the fortification ; but on a 
•nearer inspection the ruin rises in consequence; 
and the aspect of its chief entrance, a large 
Gothic gateway guarded by two massive pro- 
jecting towers, is truly noble. The light grey 

masonry 



CHAP. XV. CALDECOT CASTLE. 9.35 

masonry of this entrance is agreeably relieved 
by a profusion of ivy, overspreading nearly 
the whole of one tower, and throwing the 
broad shadow of its pendent foliage upon part 
of the other. Within the portal the grooves 
of two portcullisses are apparent ; and a fur- 
ther means of defence is visible in holes 
through the arch, down which boiling lead 
might be poured on the heads of the be- 
siegers. On entering the court some remains 
of the baronial hall, and the foundations of 
other buildings, appear within the area of 
the walls. A small artificial mount at the 
north-east angle of the ruin sustains the ci- 
tadel, a lofty round tower ; to which dernier 
resort of the garrison a ready communication 
seems to have been conducted on the walls, 
from the different towers and other parts of 
the fortress ; the whole of which is surrounded 
by a broad and deep moat. 

The early history of this castle is uncer- 
tain : some have conjectured that part of it 
was built by Harold ; and indeed a round 
tower on the south-west side of the castle, 
with a circularly arched entrance, has a 
Saxon character ; but the general^rchitecture 
<■: the building is Gothic. Caldecot castle. 
3 ' in 



'236 'PORTSWIT. CHAP. XV. 

iu the different accounts of Monmouthshire, 
lias been attached to the lord high consta- 
bleship of England, upon the authority of 
Camden * ; but it appears very satisfactorily, 
from Mr. Coxe's illustration, that it was the 
private property of the great Bohun family 
possessing the earldom of Hereford, who 
were hereditary constables of England. Cal- 
cfecot church is an extensive and highly-oi> 
namented Gothic structure, which may appear 
somewhat disproportioned to the scanty flock 
that it has to fold. 

Leaving the little village of Caldecot, we 
passed the Nevern brook, and soon after the 
small hamlet of Portswit, formerly washed by 
the sea, though it has since receded upwards 
of a mile. This place brought to our recol- 
lection a tale of outrage and cruelty that 
strongly characterizes the state of societv at 
the lijne, and may serve as a buoy to mark 
the lawless violence of military dominion. It 
is related in Powell's translation of Caracloc's 
history, that Harold, after wresting part of 
Prince Gry filth's possessions from him, built a 
magnificent palace at Portascyth (Portswit) 

* Qifiitielrs J Bj'if^lihiS, p. 714, cd 1722. 

in 



CHA?. XV. fORTSWlT. t$t 

in Monmouthshire; *' and, stowing it with 

* a great quantity of provision, splendidly en~ 
r tertained the king, who honoured him 

* with a visit. This was by no means 

* pleasing to Tosty, to see his younger bro- 
' ther in greater esteem and favour with the 
' king than himself; and, having concealed 
' his displeasure for a time, he could not 
1 forbear at length but discover his grievance; 

* for one day at Windsor, while Harold 

* reached the cup to King Edward, Tosty* 
' ready to burst with envy that his brother 
1 was so much respected beyond himself, 
' could not refrain to run furiously upon 
' him, and, pulling him by the hair, 
1 dragged him to the ground ; for which 
' unmannerly action the king forbade him 
( the court. But he, with continued ran- 

* cour and malice, rides to Hereford, where 
■ Harold had many servants preparing an en- 

* tertainment for tire king; and, setting upon 
1 them with his followers, lopped or! the 
' hands and legs of some, the arms and 
' heads of others, and then threw them into 
' the butts of wine and other liquors which 

* were put in for the king's drinking ; and 
\ at his departure charged the servants to ac- 

" quaint 



5E38 NEW PASSAGE. CHAP. XVV 

" quaint him, ' that of other fresh meat he 
" might carry with him what he pleased ; 
" but for sauce he should find plenty pro-f 
" vided for him.' For which barbarous of-. 
£( fence the king pronounced perpetual ba- 
".nishment upon him. But Caradoc ap 
•' Gryffydth gave a finishing stroke to Ha-. 
'•' rold's house, and the king's entertainment 
" at Portascyth ; for, coming thither shortly 
" after Tostv's departure, to be revenged 
" upon Harold, he killed all the workmen 
" and labourers, with all the servants he 
" could find ; and, utterly defacing- the 
" building, carried away all the costly ma- 
" terials, which, with great charges and ex? 
" pence, had been brought thither to beau- 
" tify and adorn the structure/' 

Proceeding through an agreeable undur 
lating tract towards the sea-shore, we soon 
arrived at the New Passage, the principal 
entrance into Monmouthshire from the south? 
western counties*. The breadth of water 
from this place to the Bristol coast is three miles 

* About half a mile from the shore is a rocky islet called' 
Charston rock, much esteemed for the durability of its 
stone : it has lately been employed in the lower part of the 
piers of Newport-bridge. 

and 



CHAP. XV. NEW PASSAGE. 939 

and a half, while the ferry of Aust, or the 
Old passage, four or five miles higher up the 
Severn, is only two miles across; but this 
advantage is considered to be overbalanced 
bv the more commodious landing at the for- 
rner. Both these concerns, being mono- 
polies, are, like all other monopolies, hostile to 
the interest of the publick ; for there being no 
competition for preference between the boat- 
men, they are extremely rude in their man* 
ners, indifferent to the accommodation of the 
publick, and by no means unpractised in va- 
rious arts of extortion. But these exclusive 
privileges have existed from time immemo- 
rial. The title of the New Passage arose 
from its renewal in the year 1718, after an 
abolition in consequence of the following re- 
markable incident. 

Charles the First, being pursued by a strong 
party of his enemies through Share Newton, 
got into a boat at the Black rock (the New 
passage), and was ferried to the opposite shore. 
His pursuers, to the number of sixty, with drawn 
swords compelled other boatmen belonging to 
the passage to ferry them after him ; but these, 
being in the king's interest, landed them on 
a reef .of rocks in the Severn ..called the 

English 



240 SUDBROOK. CHAP. X'Y. 

English stones, near the Gloucestershire coast, 
to which they were instructed to ford : in- 
deed, the strait was fordable at low water; 
but, the tide flowing in very rapidly, they 
were all drowned in the attempt, and the 
king for that time escaped. Cromwell, in- 
formed of the transaction, abolished the 
ferry; nor was it renewed, until after a long 
chancery-suit between an ancestor of the pre- 
sent proprietor, Mr. Lewis, of St. Pierre, and 
the guardians of his Grace the Duke of Beau- 
fort, proprietor of Aust ferry. 

A walk of a mile, on the shore westward 
*@f New Passage inn, led us to Sudbrogs 
encampment, crowning the brow of an 
emioei-ice which rises in an abrupt cliff from 
Caldecot level. This work, consisting of 
three ramparts and two ditches, forms a semi- 
circle, whose chord is the sea cliff; but it is 
evident, that part oi^ the eminence has moul- 
dered away ; and most probable, that the 
figure of the fortification was once circular. 
Harris conjectures it to be of Roman origin, 
and intended for the defence of the port of 
Yenta Silurum (Caervvent). Eastward of the 
encampment is Sudbro ok Chapel, a small 
Gothic ruin, which was formerly attached 

to 



r /HAP. XV. ST. PIERRE. 241 

to a mansion of Norman foundation. No 
traces appear even of the site of this structure* 
which has in all likelihood been swept away 
by the encroachment of the sea : but several 
piles of hewn stones near the ramparts are 
probably its relics. 

We had another pleasant walk of about a 
mile from the New passage across the fields to. 
St. Pierre, an ancient residence of the 
Lewis family, descended from Cadivor the 
great. This mansion exhibits rather an in- 
congruous mixture, in which the modem 
refinements of sash-windows, Sec. are forced 
upon a Gothic structure upwards of four hun- 
dred years old : an embattled gateway, 
flanked with pentagonal towers, is still more 
ancient, and is recorded as having belonged 
to the feudal castle that occupied the site of 
the present building. 

Nearly opposite this spot, the great estuary 
of the Bristol channel, contracting in width, 
takes the name of the Severn. The appel- 
lation of this river arises from the story of a 
British princess. GeorTry of Monmouth re- 
lates, that she was the daughter of Locrine 
king of Britain, by Elstridis, one of the three 
virgins of matchless charms whom he took 

r after. 



242 S'EVERN. C*TAP. XVY 

after he had defeated Humber king of the 
Huns, to whom they belonged. Locrine 
had divorced his former queen Guendolin in 
her favour. On his death, Guendolin as- 
sumed the government, pursued Elstridis and 
her daughter Sabra with unrelenting cruelty, 
and caused them to be drowned in the river, 
which with some alteration took the name 
of this innocent victim. Our poets have 
made a beautiful use of this story: Milton^ 
in his description of rivers, speaks of 

t{ The Severn swift, guilty of maiden blood ; 

but in the Mask of Comus he enters fully 
into her sad story : 

<f . There is a gentle Dymph not far from hence, 
" That with moist curb sways the smooth- Severn stream : 
" Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure ; 
(( Whilome she was the daughter of Loerine, • 
" That had the scepter from his father Brute. 
(C She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit 
" Of her enraged stepdame Guendolin, 
** Commended her fair innocence to the flood, 
" That stay'd her flight with his cross-flowing course. 
fi The water-nymphs that in the bottom play'd 
" Held up their pearled wrists and took her in, 
* Bearing her strait to aged Nereus' hall ; 
iC Who, piteous of her woes,- rear'd her lank head;, 
, " And gave her to his daughters to imbathe 
11 In nectar* d lavers strow'd with aspbodil, 
" And through the porch and inlet of each sense 

" Dropt 



CHAP. XV. MATHER N PALACE. 24-3 

" Dropt in ambrosial oils till she reviv'd, 
" And underwent a quick immortal change, 
"■ Made Goddess of the river.'" 

Crossing tlie grounds of St. Pierre, and' 
passing Pool Meyrick, a brook falling into 
the Severn, we turned to the right in search 
of Mather n Palace, formerly a seat of the 
bishops of Landaff. This building, situated 
in a gentle hilly country pleasingly diversified 
with wood and pasturage, in its present ap- 
pearance conveys but a very faint idea of 
the splendour and good cheer that no doubt 
reigned there when it was the seat of the 
episcopacy. The structure surrounds a qua- 
drangular court, and was raised by different 
bishops ; the north and north-east parts, com- 
prising the tower, porch, &c. are supposed 
to have been erected by John de la Zouch, 
who was consecrated anno 1408. Miles 
Salley, who came to the see in 1504, built 
the chapel, hall, and other apartments. Some 
specimens of dilapidated grandeur appear in 
the east window; and until lately the en- 
trance was through a lofty ornamented porch; 
but this is now destroyed, and the building 
only occupied as a farm-house. In the north 
side of the chancel of Mathern church, a 
r 2 Gothic 



244 MOINSCOURT, GHAP. XV, 

Gothic structure, but of British origin, is the 
following epitaph written by bishop Godwin ; 
the substance of which accounts fox the ma- 
nor of Mathern's becoming ecclesiastical : 

Here lyeth entombed the body of 

Theodorick, king of Morganuck, or 

Glamorgan, commonly called 

St. Thewdrick, and accounted a martyr. 

because lie was slain in a battle against 

the Saxons, being then Pagans, and in 

defence of the Christian religion. The 

battle was fought at Tintern, where he 

obtained a great victory. He died here, 

being in his way homeward, three 

days after the battle, having taken 

order with Maurice his son, who sue* 

ceeded him in the Kingdom, that in the 

same place he should happen to decease 3 . 

church should be built, and his body buried 

in the same ; which was accordingly performed 

in the year 600." * 

Within a short distance of Mathern h 
Moinscourt, anpther deserted ecclesiastical 
mansion, attributed to the erection of Bishop 
Godwin, and also occupied as a farm-house. 
This exhibits a handsome Gothic porch 

* The stone coffin, containing the remains of St. Theo- 
doric, was discovered some time since: upon removing the 
lid, the skeleton appeared perfectly entire, except a large 
fracture on the skull, which probably occasioned the death 
of |he hero, 

defended 



fcHAP. XV. MOINSCOUIIT* 245 

defended by two lofty turrets: within the 
fcourt-yard are the two Roman inscribed stones 
mentioned by Gibson in the supplement to 
Camden* and said to hate been brought from 
Caerlcon : one of these appears to have been 
a votive altar ; the other records the repairing 
or rebuilding of the temple of Diana by 
T, H* Posth urn ius Varus, 



nJ CHAR 



[ 246 ] 



CHAP. XVI. 



CHEPSTOW FINE SCENERY OF ITS VICI- 
NAGE THE CASTLE CHURCH, AND 

BRIDGE PIERCEFIELD CHARACTER 

OF THE LATE MR. MORRIS. 

L/ PON meeting our horses at the village of 
St. Pierre, we proceeded towards Chepstow, 
and in a few minutes were surprized with a 
range of naked cliffs, rising in appearance 
from the tract of verdure before us ; a vene- 
rable wood shadowed the brow of the rocks, 
in front of which rose a forest of masts with 
waving pennants. This singular combina- 
tion resulted from the position of Chepstow 
and its port, in an abrupt hollow, inclosed 
by considerable heights in every direction. 
The whole unfolded itself like a map be- 
neath us, as we descended to the town ; an 
irregular-built trading place, but where the 

well- 



CHAP. XVI. CHEPSTOW. 247 

well-furnished houses and opulent establish- 
ments of many of the inhabitants engaged in 
business prove the success of their commercial 
. enterprize : yet the town, having no manu- 
factories, depends altogether on the carrying 
trade. 

We hastened from an excellent repast at 
the Beaufort Arms, to enjoy the scenery in 
the vicinity of Chepstow-bridge ; where an 
assemblage of objects was disclosed, highly 
interesting, imposing, and beautiful. Be- 
low the bridge, and on the opposite side of 
the deep and rapid Wye, enlivened by nu- 
merous shipping, a series of cliffs appeared 
issuing from the water, whose rocky surface, 
warmly tinted with various hues of red and" 
yellow, was pleasingly diversified with the 
vivid green of aspiring ivy, while the lofty 
summits were fringed with impendent oaks. 
This trait was highly agreeable; but direct- 
ing our attention up the river, the princely 
ruin of Chepstow Casiie, stretching along a 
grand perpendicular cliff, which proudly 
emerges from the stream ; and the steep hills 
of Piercefield rearing their varied plantations, 
in leafy majesty, from the river to the clouds; 
were features too nobly impressive not to 
r 4 stamp 



248 CHEPSTOW CASTLE. CHAt*. XVh 

stamp an interest in the coldest observer. A 
transient gaze did hot satisfy us : we paused 
a long time over the rails of the bridge ; ad- 
vanced to the opposite shores ; compared the 
varying effect at different distances and ele- 
vations ; and* as we changed our points of 
view, discovered fresh gleams of picturesque 
beauty at every movement* Nor were the 
leading objects of this scene less gratifying 
when examined in detail, than the striking 
coup-ctceil of their general composition. 

As we advanced tovvard the massive battle- 
ments and lofty turrets of Chepstow's an- 
cient castle, the grand entrance, a Norman 
arch flanked by circular towers, figured all 
the repulsive gloom of feudal reserve arid 
violence ; even the very knocker was em- 
blematical of hostility ; for we thundered at 
the portal for admission with a cannon-ball 
suspended by a chain. The warder of the 
castle did not wind his horn in reply, nor, 
raising himself on the ramparts, did he de- 
mand our quality and business; but a pretty 
smiling damsel, conjuring up all her rosy 
dimples, bade the gate, or rather made it, 
revolve oti its creaking hinges, and welcomed 
us into the castle. 

Upon 



CHAP. XVI. CHEPSTOW CASTLE. 249 

Upon entering the court, our attention was 
somewhat divided, between the remains of 
the baronial hall, numerous apartments, and 
the kitchen, which surrounded the area; and 
the well-turned arm that pointed to the se- 
veral objects. A number of rooms in this 
court are kept in repair, and form a commo- 
dious residence, which is tenanted by Mr. 
Williams under a lease from the Duke of 
Beaufort. From this we passed to the second 
court, now laid out as a kitchen-garden. 
The third court contained the chapel, a fine 
remnant of antiquity, possessing a greater de- 
gree of decoration than any other part of the 
castle : a range of niches appear within the 
walls of this structure, at some distance from 
the floor, which is said to have been filled with 
Statues ; and the mortices of beams seem to 
indicate, that a gallery was conducted round 
the room. The style of the windows and 
enrichments is Gothic ; but the original part 
of the building is Norman. Indeed, a unity 
of design and architecture appears through- 
out the fundamental parts of the castle; al- 
though, as may be expected, the continual 
alterations and additions of successive propri- 
etors have left us several specimens of the 

intermediate 



250 CHEPSTOW CASTLE. CHAP. XVI. 

intermediate modes of building between the 
Norman foundation and the present age. 
Among the undecorative additions of the 
latter period, are the deserted works of a 
glass-house, and a dog-kennel. Beyond the 
chapel we ascended a flight of steps to the 
battlements, shadowed by wide branching 
trees of various descriptions, issuing from the 
moat beneath. Opposite to us, beyond the 
moat, appeared the low embowered ruins of 
the fourth and last court, separated from the 
principal mass of building by a drawbridge. 

Returning, our fair guide conducted us to 
a subterraneous chamber with an engroined 
roof, excavated in the rock, beneath the 
ruin, and opening to the overhanging brow 
of the cliff. Here several old ivys darted 
from stony fissures that seemed to forbid ve- 
getation, binding the mouldering summit of 
the cliff in their sinewy embrace ; and, 
shedding their light tendrils round the ca- 
vern, embowered its aperture as they aspired 
in frequent volutions to the loftiest turrets of 
the pile. Here, and from several points in 
our perambulation of the ruin, we timidly 
looked down on the rapid Wye, rolling its 
swelling tide at an immense depth perpendi- 
cularly 



CKAP. XVI. CHEPSTOW CASTLE. 251 

cularly beneath us ; and at other times the 
green waving hills of Piercefield rose in all 
their peculiar grandeur to our view, darken- 
ing the river with their widely projected 
shadows. 

Before we left this baronial fortress, we did 
not fail to explore a large round tower in the 
first court, that was the ancient citadel ; but 
is more noticed for having been the prison of 
Harry Martin the regicide. We entered a 
Gothic doorway, and, following the taper 
heels of our gentle conductress up a spiral 
staircase, visited each apartment in the tower; 
all of which proved spacious and commo- 
dious'*. Here InQ parliamentary colonel 
was confined near thirty years ; but not in the 
" durance vile" which his sympathizing bio- 
grapher represents -f : his family lived with 
him, and he had offices for his servants ; 
he had the free range of the castle in the 
day-time ; and, with a guard, was allowed 

* Owing to a neglect of the roof, the upper stories of the 
building were swimming with water, and perishing very fast. 
It is to be hoped, that before this the Cuke of Beaufort's 
agents have looked to their charge, and adopted proper 
means to prevent the entire loss of a useful habitation, and 
an interesting remnant of antiquity. 

f Southey's Poems, p. 37S, 

to 



252 CHEPSTOW CASf LS. CHAP, fcvfc 

to visit the neighbouring gentry. Even in 
the tottering state of royalty, on Charles the 
Second's restoration, this sort of confinement 
was found sufficient to answer the ends of 
justice, and security to the ruling powers; 
although the republican leader, the turbulent 
a;nd enterprising Marry Martin; was the pri- 
soner; ever glorying in his principles, and 
declaring, that were the treason of which he 
had been legally convicted to be repeated, 
lie should enter on his part without re- 
luctance. 

The building of Chepstow (or Estrighoel) 
Castle, although carried by some antiquaries 
to the xni of Julius Caesar *; appears to have 
taken place in the eleventh century, when 
William Fitzosborn, Earl of Hereford,, built 
the castle to defend the ample possessions 
granted him in this quarter by William the 

* Several of the glazed figured tiles used by the Normans/ 
commonly called Roman tiles, patched up in different parts 
o[ the ruin, and a few Roman bricks built in the heteroge- 
neous mass that composes the grout-work of the Walls, have 
occasioned many persons to consider the castle as- of Romait 
foundation. But these circumstances, standing alone, afford' 
very inconclusive grounds. On the Normans building the 
castle, the Roman fragment's were most probaMy brought 
from the then decaying town ©f Caerwent, and with other 
robbish applied to the work. 

Conqueror, 



CHAP. XVI. CHEPSTOW CHURCH. 253 

Conqueror, his relation. His son and suc« 
cessor, Roger de Britolio, taking up arms 
against his sovereign, was deprived of Ills 
vast inheritance; and Chepstow castle be- 
came soon after transferred to the noble fa- 
mily of Clare. This fortress is remarkable in 
history for the gallant defence that it made, 
with a slender garrison, against a considera- 
ble force headed by Oliver Cromwell ; but 
after a long siege it was taken by an assault, 
in which nearly all its defenders were sa- 
crificed. 

The church of Chepstow, situated at the 
extremity of the town, below the bridge, 
exhibits a curious specimen of Norman archi- . 
lecture, in the massive arches resting on piers 
within, and the richly ornamented mould- 
ings of the western entrance. The tower was 
erected during the last century. This church 
formed the nave of a much larger structure 
which belonged to a priory of Benedictine 
monks, founded by the builder of the 
castle. Some remains of the priory walls 
may be traced near the church, and of se- 
veral other religious buildings in different 
parts of the town, 

Chepstow 



254 CHEPSTOW BRIDGE. CHAP. XVI. 

Chepstow Bridge is a singular structure : 
it was formerly entirely built with timber; 
but the piers of the Monmouthshire half are 
now constructed of stone. The flooring of 
this bridge, like that of many others in the 
county, is formed of thick planks, which are 
kept firm in their places by tenons, or rather 
wedges of wood. It is usually said, that this 
flooring is loose, and calculated to rise with 
the torrents, which sometimes swelling above 
the bridge would otherwise carry it away ; 
but the fact is, that the planks are not loose : 
as. I was informed by a workman repairing 
the floor, they are fastened- in the manner 
related, in preference to nailing, that they 
may be more easily replaced when worn out. 
The tide here is reckoned to rise higher than 
in any other part of the world; accumu- 
lating to the height of seventy feet at parti- 
cular periods ; but a late examination has 
proved fifty-six feet to be the highest point 
that it has risen to during the present gene- 
ration ; which, though a very great rise, is 
not superior to what happens in some other 
places. The cause of this extraordinary swell 
proceeds from the rocks of Eeachly and 
Aust ; which, protruding far into the Severn 

near 



CHAP. XVI. PIERCEFIELD. 255 

near the mouth of the Wye, obstruct the 
flow of the tide, and oblige it to turn with 
increased rapidity into the latter river. I am 
informed, that the ruined chapel on a rock, 
near the mouth of the Wye, in the Severn, 
is an excellent subject for the pencil, in com* 
position with the cliffs of Beachly and the. 
adjacent scenery *. 

On quitting Chepstow, and proceeding 
about a mile and half on the road to Mon? 
mouth, a capital lodge with iron gates and 
palisadoes announced the entrance of Fierce- 
field. Eager to view this enchanting do- 
main, the favourite resort and theme of 
tourists, nor less the pride of Monmouthshire, 
we applied at the gate for admission ; when, 
a well-grown lad made his appearance, who 
stared at us through the rails, with more than 
the usual stupidity of boys brought up at a 
distance from towns. Again and again, with . 
entreaties and threats, we stated our business; 
but nothing could excite the gaping vacuity 
of his countenance, or induce him to open 
the gate. Rightly concluding that he was 

* In the garden of a house in Bridge-street is the pheno- 
menon of a well of soft water that ebbs and flows regularly 
in an exact opposition to the tide. 

an 



%56 PIERCEFIELD. CHAP. XVI. 

an idiot, we were returning towards the 
town for instructions how to act, when a ve- 
nerable pate with " silver crown ed" appeared 
at the window of the lodge, and by dint of 
Iiallooingand patience, in waiting upwards of 
a quarter of an hour, we had the old man at 
the gate. He was the boy's grand-father ; 
and, if intellect were hereditary, the boy 
might presume on his lineage with more 
chance of correctness than many of higher 
birth. Tise old man, after obliging us to 
hear a tedious incomprehensible narrative to 
account for his hobbling attendance, at length 
concluded by telling us, that we could not 
upon any account seethe grounds, as they 
were only shewn on Tuesdays and Fridays. 
This w^is on a Saturday ; but to wait until the s 
following Tuesday would be a tax indeed ; 
and to proceed without seeing Piercefield a 
sad flaw in our tour ; so we essayed with suc- 
cess a means which, it may be remarked, 
when applied in a due proportion to its ob- 
ject, is scarcely ever known to fail. 

We rode up an embowered lane to the vil- 
lage of St. Arvans, and, leaving our horses 
at the blacksmith's, entered Piercefield. 
Grounds at a back gate. Here commencing 

a walk 



feHAP. XVI. PtERCEFIELDo &}f 

a walk of three miles in length, we passed 
through agreeable plantations of oak, ash, 
and elm, to the edge of a perpendicular; 
bliff, called the Lover's Leap, overlooking 
an abyss-like hollow, whose fearful depth is 
softened by a tract of forest extending over 
the surrounding rocks. High above compe- 
tition at the northern extremity of the scene 
rises Wynd cliff: a dark wood fringes its 
lofty summit* and shelves down its sides to 
the river Wye> which urges its sinuous course 
at the bottom of the glen„ In one place, the 
river, gently curving; appears in all the 
breadth of its channel ; in another, project- 
ing rocks and intervening foliage conceal its 
course, dr sparingly exhibit its darkened sur- 
face. Following the bend of the river on its 
marginal height, a range of naked perpendi- 
cular cliffs (the Bahagor rocks) appear abovd 
the wooded hills that prevail through the 
scenery ; of so regular a figure, that one can 
scarcely help imagining it the fortification of a 
town, with curtains, bastions, and demi- 
bastions. But a very leading feature is, the 
peninsula of Llanicut : the hills of Pierce* 
field, here receding into a semicircular bend, 
watered by the river immediately beneath, 

s are 



258 PIERCEFIELD* CHAP. XVI. 

are opposed by a similar concavity in the 
Banagor rocks : the whole forming a grand 
amphitheatre of lofty woods and precipices. 
From the opposite side descends a fertile ex- 
panse, or tongue of land, filling up the area 
of the circle. This singular valley is laid out 
in a compact ornamented farm ; the richly 
verdant meadows are intersected by flourishing 
• hedge-rows; while numerous trees diversify 
the tract, and imbower the. farm-house : a row 
of elms shadows the margin of the river, 
which, skirting the base of the hills, nearly 
surrounds the valley. 

These subjects disclose themselves in dif- 
ferent combinations through intervals in the 
shrubbery which encloses the walk; and 
which, although selected from the nicest 
.observations, are managed with so just an 
attention to the simplicity of nature, as to 
appear the work of her plastic hand. 

The Giant's Cave, a little further, is a 
passage cut through a rock. Over one of the 
entrances is a mutilated colossal figure, which 
once sustained the fragment of a rock in his 
.uplifted arms, threatening to overwhelm who- 
ever dared enter his retreat ; but some time 

since 



CHAP. XVI. PIERCEFIELD. 259 

since the stone fell, carrying the Giant's arms 
along with it ; yet he continues to grin hor- 
ribly, although deprived of his terrors. From 
this place a path, traced under the woods, 
descends to the bath, a commodious building 
concealed from outward view by impendent 
foliage. 

Deserting for a while the course of the 
river, we ascend a superior eminence called 
the Double View, whence the different 
scenes that have presented themselves in de- 
tail appear in one comprehensive range. 
Here too a new field of prospect discloses it- 
self, much more extensive than the former, 
and beautifully picturesque. The mazy Wye, 
with all its interesting accompaniments, passes 
from beneath us, through a richly var legated 
country, to its junction with the Severn, be- 
yond whose silvery expanse the grand swell- 
ing shores of Somersetshire form the distance. 
A curious deceptio visits occurring here must 
not be passed over : it arises from a coinci- 
dence in the angle of vision between the em- 
battled rocks already mentioned, and a part 
of the Severn; which appears to wash their 
summit, although in reality it is many miles 
distant. But the subject of the prospect 
s 2 from 



260 MERCEFIELEh &&&V.i XYf* 

from this spot is seen much more picturesquely 
combined as we continue our walk on a gentle 
descent, and catch the varying scene through 
apertures in the foliage i yet there is some- 
thing that one would wish to add or remove, 
until we reach die grotto, when a picture 
is exhibited in the happiest taste of com- 
position. 

In this charming view from the grotto, a 
diversified plantation occupies the fore-ground, 
and descends through a grand hollow to the 
river, which passes in a long reach under the 
elevated ruin of Chepstow Castle, the town 
and bridge, towards the Severn. Rocks ancf 
precipices, dark shelving forests, groves, and 
lawns, hang on its course ; and, with a va- 
riety of sailing-vessels, are reflected from the 
liquid mirror, with an effect that I cannot 
attempt to describe, and at which the magic 
pencil of a Claude would falter. The dis- 
tant Severn and its remote shores form an ex- 
cellent termination) and complete the picture. 

On our visit, the rich extent of varie- 
gated, woods that mantles this charming do- 
main received an additional diversity in the 
endless gradations of autumnal tints that 
chequered their surface ; while in a few 

places 




^ 



fc> 



• s 



CHAP. XVI. PIERCEFIELD. 261 

places the still uniform sombre hue of the 
pine and larch was admirably relieved by the 
silvered verdure of the lightly-branching 
ground-ash and witch-hazel. 

Highly gratified with this delightful sce- 
nery, we returned by another track through 
tangled shrubberies, open .groves, and waving 
lawns, to the mansion. This edifice is con- 
structed of free-stone, and has had two hand-* 
some wings lately added to it by Colonel 
Wood, the present proprietor of the estate. 
Although not very extensive, it has never-* 
theless an elegant external appearance ; and, 
as we were informed, is fitted up internally 
with a taste and splendour little inferior to 
any of our first-rate houses in England *, 

Remounting onr horses at, the village of 
St. Arvans,' a steep ascent led over some 
outgrounds of Piercefield to the summit of 
Wyndcliff, where a prodigious extent of 
prospect burst upon us ; comprehending at 
one view, not only the different scenes in the 
neighbourhood of Chepstow, which appeared 
sunk into the lines of a map, but a wonder* 
ful range over nine counties, 

* Col. Wood is about to dispose of this estate, 

s 3 Tho 



262 VALENTINE MORRIS. CHAP. XVI. 

The charms of Piercefield were created by 
Valentine Morris, Esq. about fifty years 
since ; to say unfolded, may be more cor- 
rect ; for the masterly hand of nature mo- 
delled every feature ; the taste of Mr. Morris 
discovered them in an unnoticed forest, « and 
disclosed them to the world : he engrafted 
the blandishments of art upon the majestic 
wildness of the scene without distorting its 
original character. 

Philanthropic, hospitable, and magnifi- 
cent, his house was promiscuously open ta 
the numerous visitors whom curiosity led to 
his improvements ; but alas ! by his splen- 
did liberality, his unbounded benevolence, 
and unforeseen contingencies, his fortune be- 
came involved ; he was obliged to part with 
his estate, and take refuge in the West Indies. 
Before he left his country, he took a farewel 
view of Piercefield, and with manly resign 
nation parted with that idol of his fancy. 
The industrious poor around, whose happi- 
ness he had promoted by his exertions and 
bounty, crowded towards him, and on their 
knees implored the interposition of Providence 
for the preservation of their benefactor : tears 
and prayers were all they had to offer ; nor 

could 



CHAP. XVI. VALENTINE MORRIS. 263 

could they be suspected of insincerity ; for 
in lamenting their protector's misfortunes they 
but mourned their own. In this trial he saw 
unmoved (at least in appearance) the widows' 
and orphans' anguish, though he was wont 
to melt at the bare mention of their sorrows. 
His firmness did not forsake him in quitting 
this affecting group, as his chaise drove off 
towards London ; but having crossed Chep- 
stow-bridge, the bells, muffled, as is usual 
on occasions of great public calamity; rang 
a mournful peal. Unprepared for this mark 
of affection and respect, he could no longer 
control his feelings, and burst into tears. 

In leaving England he did not shake off 
his evil destiny. Being appointed governor 
of St. Vincent's, he expended the residue of 
his fortune in advancing the cultivation of the 
colony, and raising works for its defence, 
when the island fell into the hands of the 
French. Government failing to reimburse 
his expences during his life, upon his return 
to England he was thrown into the King's- 
bench prison by his creditors. Here he ex- 
perienced all the rigour of penury and im- 
prisonment for seven years. Of the nu- 
merous sharers of his prosperity, only his 
s 4 amiable 



£ 264f VALENTINE MORRIS. CHAP. XVI. 

amiable wife* and a single friend devotect 
themselves to participate Jiis misery and al- 
leviate his distress. Even the clothes and 
trinkets of his lady were sold to purchase 
breajd ; and? that nothing might be wanting 
to. fill up his cup of bitterness, the. faithful 
partner of his cares, unable to bear up against 
continued and accumulating misery, became 
insane. 

At length he recovered his liberty ; and 
fortune, tired of this long persecution, seemed 
to abate somewhat of her rigour ; when death 
put an end to his chequered career at the 
house of his brother-in-law, Mr. Wilmot, in, 
Bloomsbury-square, in 1789. — The neigh- 
bourhood still sounds the praises of this wor- 
thy gentleman. Old men, in recounting his 
good actions and unmerited misfortunes, seen^ 
warmed with the enthusiasm of youth ; and 
little children sigh while they lisp the suf* 
ferings of Good Mr. Morris, 



* She was a niece of Lord Peterborough, 



CHAP, 



L 265 ] 



CHAP, XVIL 



^INTERN ABBEY IRON-WORKS SCENERY 

OF THE WYE TO MONMOUTH OLD 

TINTERN BROOK'S WEIR LANDAGO 

— -REDBRQOK. 

JtiOW teeming with objects of curiosity 
and beauty is Monmouthshire.! Within two 
or three miles of Piercefield we reached the 
justly-famed ruin of Tintern Abbey : its 
dark mouldering walls, solemnly rising above 
surrounding trees, appeared to us, in turn- 
ing from a deep-wooded hollow, with a most 
impressive effect % At the village adjoining 

we 

* This part of our journey, in wading through a right 
Welch road, brought to my mind an anecdote of Mr. 
Morris. When a bill was before the House of Commons for 
the improvement of the roads in Monmouthshire, many gen- 
tlemen of the county, willing to plod through the same 
mire that had bedaubed their ancestors, gave it a strong op- 
position. 



266 TINTERN ABBEY. CHAP. XVII. 

we put up at the Beaufort Arms, the-knd- 
lord of which, Mr. Gething, holds the key 
of the ruin, and who, extraordinary as it 
may seem, unites unaffected civility and 
kindness with upwards of forty years ini- 
tiation into the business of an inn-keeper, 
and, as the neighbours say, a well-lined 
purse. Passing the works of an iron-foundry, 
and a train of miserable cottages engrafted on 
the offices of the abbey, we found ourselves 
under the west front of the ruin. This con- 
fined approach, incumbered by mean build- 
ings, is not calculated to inspire one with a- 
very high estimation of its consequence : 
but, on the door's being thrown open, an 
effect bursts on the spectator, of so majestic 
and singular a description, that words can 
neither do justice to its merit, nor convey ah 
adequate idea of the scene. It is neither a 
mere creation of art nor an exhibition of na- 
ture's charms ; but a grand spectacle, in which 

position. Mr. Morris, who had a mind above vulgar pre- 
judices, and who was a warm promoter of every useful im- 
provement, being examined at the bar of the House and 
questioned, " What roads have you in Monmouthshire ?" 
replied, " None." — " How do you travel then ?" — « In 
pitches," was his reply. 

both 



CHAP. XVII. TINTERN ABBEY. 267^ 

both seem to have blended their powers in, 
producing something beautiful and sublime ! 

Through long ranges of Gothic pillars and 
arches, some displaying all the exquisite 
workmanship of their clustered shafts, while 
others are hung with shadowy festoons of ivy, 
or lightly decorated with its waving tendrils, 
the eye passes ; and, for a moment arrested 
by the lofty arches rising in the middle of the 
structure that formerly supported the tower, 
it glides to the grand window at the termi- 
nation of the ruin. Beyond this aperture, 
distinguished by a shaft of uncommon light- 
ness springing up the middle, some wild 
wooded hills on the opposite side of the Wye 
rear their dusky summits, and close the scene 
with much congenial grandeur. The ruin is 
generally in a high state of preservation ; the 
outer walls are perfect; and the elegant 
tracery of the west window above the en- 
trance has not suffered in one of its members. 
A singular circumstance of this ruin, and to 
which may be ascribed its superior effect, is, 
that the fallen roof and all the other rubbish 
have been removed to the original level of 
the pavement by order of the Duke of Beau- 
fort, and a greensward smooth as a bowling- 
green 



368 TINTERN ABBEY. CHAP. XVII* 

green extended throughout. Hence all the 
parts rise in their original and clue proportion, 
;and with an undisturbed effect. At the same 
time, the uniformity of a lawn-like surface 
is diversified with several clumps; consisting 
of broken columns, cornices, and the muti- 
lated effigies of monks and heroes *, whose 
ashes repose within the walls : Light branch- 
ing trees start from their interstices, and 
throw a doubtful shadow over the sculptured 
fragments. 

Tintern Abbey is cruciform ; The length 
of the nave and choir is two hundred and 
thirty feet ; their width, thirty^hree ; and it 
is a hundred and sixty feet to the extremes of 
the transept. It was founded for Cistercian 
monks by Walter de Clare, anno 1131 ; and 
in- 1268, according to William of Worcester, 
the abbot and monks entered the choir, and 
celebrated the first mass at the high altar. It 
is probable, that only that part of the build- 
ing was then completed, as the other parts 

* A rough carved figure of a man in a coat of mail is shewn 
as the effigy of Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, the 
founder of the abbey. This account, however, is altoge- 
ther erroneous: Pvichard was only great nephew of the 
founder, and he was buried in the chapter-house of Glou- 
cester. 

of 






tHAP. XVII. TINTERN ABBEYS 269 

of the church are of a later style of archi- 
tecture ; and it was no uncommon thing for 
the choir to be built and consecrated before 
the rest of the structure was finished. 

On entering the abbey, it was determined 
that we should proceed no further that day : 
getting rid, therefore, of my companion and 
landlord, who retired in a consultation about 
dinner, I locked myself in, and employed 
several hours without interruption in sketch- 
ing the interesting features of the ruin. At 
an early hour the following morning we sal- 
lied from our inn, and, crossing the Wye, 
were greeted with a new effect of the abbey* 
Majestically towering above encircling trees, 
the external elevation arose in nearly its ori- 
ginal grandeur. The walls, though clad 
with moss and tender lichens, appeared no- 
where dismantled ; yet might an eye, anx- 
ious after picturesque forms, he offended with 
the uniform angles and strait lines of the 
gable ends and parapets. We walked along 
the banks of the sinuous river about half a 
mile from the ferry, when the ruin presented 
itself in a very agreeable point of view. Look- 
ing full through the grand aperture of the 
eastern window, the rows of columns and 

arches, 



270 TINTERN" ABBEYV CHAP. XVIf* 

arches, overhung with clustering ivy, wore 
the appearance of a delightful grove ; and at 
the end of the perspective, the elegant tracery 
of the opposite window, besprinkled with 
verdure, was well defined ; and in its distant 
tint had an admirable effect. These views 
of the mouldering abbey, combined with the 
wild scenery of the Wye, and the kindred 
gloom of a lowering atmosphere, were truly 
impressive and grand ; yet they scarcely ex- 
cited such sensations of awful sublimity as 
we felt on our first visit to the interior of the 
ruin. 

In our different walks between the inn and 
the abbey, we were regularly beset with im- 
portunities for alms : the labouring man 
abandoned his employment and the house- 
wife her family at the sight of a stranger, to 
obtain a few pence by debasing clamour. 
This system of begging we found to arise 
from the late distresses, particularly that of 
the preceding year, which, bearing on the 
great class of the people with an almost an- 
nihilating pressure, entitled them to the sym- 
pathy and assistance of those whom fortune 
had blessed with prosperity : they had strained 
their aching sinews to meet the exigence, 

yet 



CHAP. XVII. IRON-WORKS. 271 

yet their utmost exertions proved inadequate 
to the means of support. Thus situated, 
alms or outrage formed their alternate re- 
sources; but, happily, in the benevolence 
of the affluent they found an asylum. This 
pressure was fast withdrawing, but its effects 
remained ; they had tasted the sweets of in- 
dolence, of support without exertion ; they 
no longer felt the dignity of independance 
(for the odium of begging was withdrawn by 
invincible necessity) ; and they continued 
the unworthy trade without remorse. Ex- 
cepting a few significant curtsies in the ma- 
nufactories of Neath, this was the first in- 
stance of the sort that we met with during 
our tour. In other places, industry was 
urged to its highest exertion ; here, by an 
increased weight of necessity, it sunk be- 
neath the pressure. 

The iron-works of Tintern I believe to be 
almost the only concern in the neighbour- 
hood of Wales where the old method of 
fusing the ore by charcoal furnaces continues 
to be practised. The manufacture is pur- 
sued to the forming of fine wire and plates. 

The mineral wealth of this district was not 
unknown to the ancients ; for large quantities 

of 



Wftt IRON-WORKS, CHAP. XVlfi 

of scoria imperfectly separated from the 
metal, which are evidently the refuse of 
Roman bldomeries, and many furnaces whose 
origin no tradition reaches, appear in several 
parts of the country. These Roman cinders 
have been in many places reworked, ac- 
cording to modern improvements in metal- 
lurgy, and made to yield a considerable por- 
tion of metal. The decline of the ancient 
works is justly attributed to their exhausting 
the forests which formerly overspread Wales, 
for charcoal, until they were at length en- 
tirely stopped for want of fuel. But within 
this half century, coke made from pit-coal,- 
which possesses the essential principles of 
charcoal, has been applied with success to 
the fusing of ore i in consequence, very nu- 
merous iron-mines have been opened ; and, 
aided by an inexhaustible supply of coals, 
their produce has exceeded even the sanguine 
hopes of the projectors. It must, howeveiv 
be remarked, that iron made with pit-coal 
is of inferior tenacity and ductility to that 
manufactured by means of charcoal. Stfh©* 
ther this arises from a radical defect in the 
material used, from a too prodigal use of 
calcareous earth to facilitate the flux of 

the 



CHAP. XVII. ABBEY TINTERN. 273 

the metal, or any other cause, remains yet 
to be determined . 

I cannot take leave of Tintern without 
mentioning a circumstance for the benefit of 
those tourists who may have an obstinate 
beard, or a too pliant skin. Having dis- 
patched an attendant for a barber on my ar- 
riving at the inn, a blacksmith was forthwith 
introduced, who proved to be the only shaver 
in the village. The appearance of this man, 
exhibiting, with all the sootiness of his em- 
ployment, his brawny black arms bare to the 
shoulders, did not flatter me with hopes of a 
very mild operation ; nor were they increased 
upon his producing a razor that for massive- 
ness might have served a Polypheme. I sat 
down, however, and was plentifully be- 
smeared with suds ; after which he endea- 
voured to supply the deficiency of an edge, 
by exerting his ponderous strength in three or 
four such scrapes as, without exciting my 
finer feelings, drew more tears into my eyes, 
than might have sufficed for a modern co- 
medy. I waited for no more ; but, re- 
leasing myself from his gripe, determined to 
pa^s for a Jew Rabbi, rather than undergo 
file penance of any more shaving a£ Tintern. 
t We 



274 brook's weir. CHAP. XVII. 

We crossed the Wye from Tintern, that 
we might follow the beauties of the river in 
our way to Monmouth ; then ascending a 
precipitous wild-wooded hill, we took a 
farevvel view of our much-loved abbey, and 
soon looked down on the old village of Tin- 
tern, delightfully placed on the opposite 
bank of the Wye, and dignified with the 
ruin of the Abbot's mansion *. Upon com- 
pleting our descent in traversing the hill, we 
entered the irregular village of Brook's Weir, 
off which a number of sloops of from 80 to 
1.00 tons were at anchor : these vessels were 
waiting for their cargoes from Hereford and 
Monmouth, which are brought hither in 
flat-bottomed barges, as the tide flows no 
higher than this place. We had now a de- 
lightful ride for several miles over meadows 
and pastures that skirted the Wye ; whose ma- 
jestic stream, almost filling the narrow valley, 
reflected the inclosing hills from its surface 
in a style of inimitable beauty ; while the 
rich ascending woods on either side threw a 
softened light on the translucent river and 

* The neighbourhood that has risen round the abbey is 
called Abbey Tin tern, to distinguish it from this village, 
which is aiiojit a mile distant. 

ks 



CHAP. XVII. LANDAGO. 275 

its verdant margin ; so sweetly in harmony 
with the pleasing solitude of the scene, as 
might dispose even revehy itself to fall in 
love with retirement : 

" O blest retirement, friend to life's decline., 
" Retreat from care, that never must be mine : 
{( How blest is he., -who crowns, in shades like these* 
" A youth of labour with an age of ease !" 

Ahout four , miles above Tin tern the rural 
little village of Landago saluted us with its 
white church and cottages, glistening through 
encircling trees, as it skirted the river and 
climbed the siJe of a lofty hill. We then 
followed a gentle curvature of the Wye to 
Bigg's Weir, a ridge of rocks which cross the 
river, leaving only a small interval for the 
current. A string of barges was unravelling 
its course in this strait as we were passing ; 
which ta^k seemed to en2,aee all the vigilance 
and activity of the watermen. Near this spot 
the house (an ordinary mansion) and grounds 
of General Rooke, member Jgr the county 
of Monmouth, occupying part of the river's 
bank, obliged us to make a short deviation ; 
but, soon returning to our limpid stream, we 
caught a glimpse of the church and castle of 
St. Bviavel, crowning an eminence in the 
t 2 forest 



27$ THE WYE. CHAP. XVII. 

forest of Dean just behind us; and in front, 
a short distance beyond the opposite bank, 
appeared the decaying importance of Pilson- 
house. 

The narrow stripe of meadow-land that ac- 
companies the Wye from Brook's Weir to 
Monmouth, and in which our road lay, 
now became frequently shut up from public 
convenience by fences crossing the tract, and 
styles, in the place of open gates, which the 
farmers had lately erected. We were there- 
fore obliged to climb up the forest-clothed 
hills, of almost inaccessible steepness, driving 
our horses before us, and scrambling through 
bush and briar; and only regained the mea- 
dows to encounter a succeeding difficulty of 
the same kind. But our last was the greatest ; 
for, pursuing a track broken through a 
closely-woven thicket that led over the hills, 
we neglected a doubtful opening in the bram- 
bles that indicated our road, and only guessed 
that we were wrong from the tedious height 
we were climbing. We had, however, gone 
too far to retreat ; and therefore hoped, in 

if 

the true spirit of error, as we had certainly 
missed tiie right path, that by proceeding 
boldly on we might extricate ourselves by 

another. 



CHAP. XVII. THE WYE. 277 

another. At length we reached the top of 
the hill, and with no small disappointment 
beheld our track terminate at a lonely farm- 
house ; where no one appeared to give us 
information ; nor was any road whatever vi- 
able for the pursuit of our journey. Yet the 
view that this eminence commanded over 
the sinuous Wye, sweeping among sloping 
meadows, woods, and precipices, in some 
sort repaid our fatigue. Obliged to return, 
we forced a passage through tangled under- 
wood to the margin of the river, which, here 
forming an extensive reach between deep 
shelving banks, was thrown into one grand 
shadow. The evening was drawing to a 
close ; and the retiring sun, no longer wan- 
toning on the wavy current, sparingly glit- 
tered on the woody treasures of its marginal 
heights, but glared in full splendour on the 
distant hills; nor was a brilliant sky wanting 
to contrast the sombre solemnity of our vale: 

" The evening clouds, 
" Lucid or dusk with flamy purple edg'd, 
" Float in gay pomp the blue horizon round - t 
(C Amnsive, changeful, shifting into shapes 
" Of visionary beauty ; antique towers 
" With shadowy domes and pinnacles adorn'd ,• 
<c Or hills of white extent, that rise, and sink 
< ( As sportive fancy lists." 

t 3 In 



278 REDBROOK. CHAP. XVII. 

In this shady silent retreat we passed about 
a mile, and emerged on the village of Red- 
brook, where several groupes employed in 
some iron and tin works, and in plying a 
ferry, gave animation to the scene. From 
this place, following a bold curve of the 
river, and skirting the base of the lofty 
Kymin, we soon came within view of Mon- 
mouth ; the remarkably high spire of its 
church ; and the large old Mansion of Troy, 
in a low situation, a small distance to the left, 
near the junction of the Trothy with the 
Wye. 



CHAP. 



[ - 19 3 



C H A P. XVIII, 



MONMOUTH CHURCH, PRIORY, AND 

CASTLE THE KYMIN WONAS'TOW- 

HOUSE TREOWEN TROY-HOUSE 

TRELECH PERTHIR NEWCASTLE — 

SCENFRITH CASTLE GROSSMONT CAS- 
TLE JOHN OF KENT. 

MONMOUTH is delightfully situated in 
a gently undulating valley, chiefly in a high 
state of cultivation, surrounded by high hills: 
it occupies a sort of peninsula formed by the 
conflux of the Wye and the Monnow ; so 
that it is nearly incircled by the two rivers. 
The town is extensive, and contains many 
good houses ; particularly in a principal broad 
street, which extends from the market-place 
to an old British or Saxon bridge and gateway 
over the Monnow. The market-place, with 
T 4 the 



280 MONMOUTH CHURCH. CHAP. XVIII. 

the town-hall over it, is a handsome build- 
ing; but sadly disfigured by an awkward 
statue of Henry the Fifth, which, no doubt, 
was intended to ornament it. From this part 
a narrow street leads to St. Mary's church, 
which is also a handsome modern edifice, 
chiefly remarkable for its grand lofty spire 
rising 200 feet from the foundation ; the 
tower of which affords an interesting view 
of the surrounding districts. This structure 
is engrafted upon a Gothic church that be- 
longed to an Alien Benedictine priory of 
Black Monks, which was founded in the 
reign of Henry the First, and dedicated to 
the Holy Virgin. The priory-house forms a 
large family residence belonging to Adam 
Williams, Esq; and contains an apartment 
which the legend of the place declares to 
have been the library of the celebrated 
Geoffery of Monmouth ; but the style of the 
building is by no means so ancient as the time 
of Geoffery, who, we find, was consecrated 
bishop of St. Asaph in 1 152. 

e( The chronicle of Briton's kings 
tc From Brute to Arthur's rayne," 

written by Geoffery, has long excited the 
attention and controversy of the learned : by 

some 



CHAP. XVIII. MONMOUTH CASTLE. 2#t 

some it is implicitly believed ; and rejected, 
as altogether fabulous, by others. The mo- 
derate opinion here, as in most other cases, 
is the best : this views it as founded on au- 
thentic documents, although distorted by 
monkish superstition and tricks, and a taste 
for the marvellous. 

Monmouth Castle, situated on the 
banks of the Monnow in the northern part 
of the town, exhibits few memorials of its 
former extent and magnificence in its present 
very dilapidated state ; and the remaining 
fragments lose much of their characteristic 
dignity from the brick y appearance given by 
the red grit stone of which they are con- 
structed. Among these broken walls are 
shewn, with no small degree of exultation, 
traces of the chamber in which Henry the 
Fifth, the glory of Monmouth, was born, 
Adjoining to this is the ruin of a large apart- 
ment, sixty-three feet long by forty-six wide, 
which was probably the baronial hall, and in 
latter times formed the court of the Assizes. 
Other vestiges of the castle are evident among 
stables and out-houses : some vaults under the 
house of Mr. Cecil, of the DyfTrin, are of 

the 






282 MONMOUTH CASTLE. CHAP. XVIII. 

the oldest character, and may be attributed 
to Saxon if not to Roman workmanship. 

The general building of this castle (though 
of very remote foundation) may be consi- 
dered as posterior to the Civil wars in the 
third Henry's reign ; when, we learn, the 
castle of Monmouth was taken and rased to the 
ground by Simon Montford, Earl of Leicester. 
A large mansion on the site of the castle, 
built with its materials, and engrafted on its 
ruins, is now occupied as a ladies' boarding- 
school. Soon after the erection of this house, 
a Marchioness of Worcester went thither to 
lie-in of her first child, at the instance of her 
grandfather, Henry, first Duke of Beaufort, 
who was anxious that his descendant should 
draw his first breath " near the same spot of 
ground and space of air, where ;our great 
hero Henry the Fifth was born." 

Near the extremity of the town, by the 
side of the Monnow, is the county gaol ; a 
new massive stone building, which in its 
plan, regulations, and superintendance, does 
high credit to the public spirit of the county. 
Without the town, at the foot of the Mon- 
now-briclge, is St. Thomas's church, a cu- 
rious 



CHAP. XVIII. MONMOUTlt. 283 

rious old structure which is supposed to have 
been built by the Saxons. 

Monmouth is supposed by Mr. Horsley to 
have been a Roman station, the Blestium of 
Antoninus. It is a borough and corporate town, 
governed by a mayor, and contains about 
six hundred houses, and two thousand six 
hundred inhabitants. Woollen caps were the 
staple manufacture of Monmouth when that 
article was in general use ; and Shakspeare's 
Fluellen alludes to this fashion : " If your 
" Majesty is remembered of it, the Welch- 
" men did goot service in a garden where 
" leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their 
" Monmouth caps." But the town has now 
no manufacture, although there are some 
iron and tin works in the neighbourhood : 
its commerce depends on the navigation of 
the Wye, in the distribution of goods between 
Bristol, Hereford, and adjoining districts. 
Yet no small part of its thriving appearance 
may be attributed to the numerous gentry 
that are induced to fix their residence here 
from the pleasantness of the situation. 

Chippenham meadow, an agreeable plain, 
inclosed by the town, the Wye, and the 
Monnow, is the general rendezvous of G wen- 
ton ian 



$81 THE KYMIN. CHAP. XVIII. 

tonian beauty on summer (and particularly 
on Sunday) evenings. We had the good for- 
tune to be in Monmouth on a Sunday, and 
of course did not neglect to join the prome- 
nade ; where many a squire of little manors 
eyed us with much more inquiry than cor- 
diality. Their dulcineas, 

" Healthful and strong, full as the summer rose 
" Blown by prevailing, suns/' 

displayed the vigour of youth and Wales, 
and possessed decided points of feminine at- 
traction. But who would leave London to 
describe female beauty? 

In the vicinity of Monmouth is a remark- 
ably high hill, called the Kymin, which 
rises from the banks of the Wye, on the 
Gloucestershire side of the river. A pleasant 
walk is traced to its summit, from which a 
wonderful range of prospect extends to a cir- 
cumference of near three hundred miles. 
It would be tedious to enumerate the mul- 
tifarious objects that present themselves in 
this great prospect : if any one be eminently 
beautiful, it is the diversified undulating vale 
of Monmouth, enlivened by its picturesque 
town and spire, and watered by the Wye, 

the 



CHAP. XVIII. WONASTOW-HOUSE. 285 

the Monnow, and the Troth y, limpidly me- 
andering through fertile hollows, and at 
length uniting, in the course of the former 
river, at the foot of the hill. At the top of 
the Kymin, a handsome pavilion has been 
lately erected for the accommodation of 
parties ; its summit is also adorned with a rich 
wood called Beau lieu grove, which, descend- 
ing over part of its . precipitous sides, forms its 
proudest ornament. Several walks cut through 
the wood terminate at the brow of steep de- 
clivities, commanding great and enchanting 
views; and which in the spring, as I am 
told, from the universality of apple orchards 
in this district, are as singular as they arc 
beautiful. 

There are several antique mansions in the 
neighbourhood of Monmouth that deserve 
notice. About a mile from the town, on 
the left of the road to Raglan, is Wonastqw- 
house, formerly a residence of a branch of 
the Herbert family *, which is conjectured 
to have been built about the reign of Henry 
the Sixth . Its situation, on a gentle emi- 

* The Herberts came over soon after the Conquest, and 
settled at Worn dee, near Abergavenfjy, 

nencs 



236 TREOWEtf. CHAP. XVTII. 

nence commanding many extensive views, 
is extremely pleasant ; and the surrounding 
farm-lands still bear traces' of ■ its park in se- 
veral groves of ancient oaks and elms. The 
edifice, though much diminished in extent 
and divided into two distinct habitations, is 
still a venerable relic of the times, and con- 
tains several original family portraits. The 
old chapel belonging to the mansion is now 
applied to domestic use. 

Treowen, situated about a mile further 
westward, to the north of the road to Raglan, 
was once a splendid mansion, built by Inigo 
Jones, and which belonged to another scion 
from the Herbert stock. The position of the 
house and grounds, now laid out in a farm, 
is very delightful, watered by the meander- 
ing Trothy, and still exhibiting a profusion 
of rich woods. Though occupied as a farm- 
house, and much reduced in dimensions, 
the mansion continues to shew many marks 
of its ancient grandeur, in the spacious and 
decorative style of the apartments, a noble 
staircase of oak, and its ornamented porch. 

Troy-house, standing within a mile 
south-east of Monmouth, near the road to 
Chepstow, was a residence of a further rami- 
fication 



CHAP. XVIII. TROY-HOUSE. 1287 

-fication of the prolific Herbert race *. Part 
of the ancient residence is visible in a Gothic 
gateway ; but the house is of a later date, its 
erection being, as well as the preceding, at- 
tributed to Inigo Jones. Neither the house, 
though extensive, nor its situation, in a 
hollow near the river Troth y, possess any 
claim to admiration. Throughout the apart- 
ments a large collection of family pictures is 
arranged, which contains the portraits of 
many distinguished characters, but very few 
specimens of fine painting. In the house- 
keeper's room is a curious oak chimney-piece, 

* The manor of Troy deviated from the Herbert line to 
that of the earls -of Worcester about the beginning of the 
seventeenth century. In the Apophthegms of the Marquis of 
Worcester is related a punning jeu d esprit upon the word 
Troy, between the old Marquis and his royal guest Charles 
the First. Sir Thomas Somerset, the Marquis's brother, 
residing at Troy-house, possessed a greater art in forcing 
plants than was at that time generally understood in England ; 
which enabled him to send a present of fruit to the Marquis 
that was entirely out of the natural season. The old Peer, 
highly pleased, carried them to the King, and said, " Here 
" I present you, Sire, with that which came not from Lin- 
li coin that was, nor London that is, nor York that is to be, 
" but from Troy." Whereupon the King smiled, and an- 
swered the Marquis, ". Truly, my Lord, I have heard that 
" corn grows where Troy town stood ; but I never thought 
{t that there had grown any apricots before." 

brought 



238 TRELECII. CHAP. XVIII, 

brought from Raglan Castle, carved with 
scriptural subjects; and in a room on the 
third floor is another ancient chimney-piece 
inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and curiously or- 
namented with devices of Love and Plenty. 

About three miles further on the road to 
Chepstow is the village of Trelech, which 
is supposed to have derived its name from 
fhree druidical stones standing in a held ad- 
joining the road, near the church. They 
are placed upright, or rather inclining; of 
different heights, varying between ten and 
fifteen feet ; and the exterior stones are the 
one fourteen, and the other twenty feet 
distant from the middle pillar : their sub- 
stance is a concretion of silicious pebbles in a 
calcareous bed, commonly called pudding- 
stone, and of which some neighbouring rocks 
consist. This monument of antiquity is con- 
sidered to liave been the supporting part of a 
cromlech; but the stones being so far asun- 
der invalidates the conjecture. Various large 
masses of the same sort of stone in the vi- 
cinity of Trelech seem to indicate the re- 
mains of other works of the same kind. 

In the village, inclosed by a garden, is an 
earthen mound four hundred and fifty feet 

in 



CHAP. XVIII. TRELECH. 289 

in diameter, encircled by a moat, and con- 
nected with extensive entrenchments ; which 
is imagined to have been a Roman work, 
and afterwards to have been the site of a 
castle belonging to the Earls of Clare. The 
village is also remarkable for a chalybeate 
well that was formerly much attended. Near 
the church, which deserves to be noticed 
for the agreeable proportions of its Gothic 
members and its handsome spire, is a pedestal 
with a sun-dial, supposed to be of high anti- 
quity : it bears a Latin inscription, com- 
memoratino; Harold's victory over the Britons. 
Large quantities of iron scoria, scattered over 
the fields near the village, are generally al- 
lowed to indicate that a Roman bioomeiy 
was established near the spot. 

From this place the road soon ascends the 
Devaudon height, traverses a tract of forest 
called Chepstow Park, and in the course of 
its progress embraces several superb and ex- 
tensive views ; in which the varieties of the 
Wye, of hanging woods, wild heathy moun- 
tains, and rich inclosures, rise in succession. 

We made an excursion from Monmouth, 
on the road to Hereford, as far as Grosrnont. 
Proceeding through a charming country about 

h three 



290 FERTHlR. CHAP. XVIII. 

three miles, we struck off on the right to 
visit Perth i r, a very ancient seat of the 
Herbert family. Of the castellated mansion, 
surrounded by a moat and two drawbridges, 
few vestiges appear in the present diminished 
and patched-up building ; yet some marks of 
former magnificence meet tlie observer, in a 
long vaulted hall, with a music gallery at the 
end, a lar<re Gothic window with stone com- 
partments, and the massive oak beams of a 
long passage. The extensive manors that 
were attached to Perth ir, and which, as tra- 
dition relates, extended from thence to Ross, 
now exhibit but a sorry remnant of past opu- 
lence. 

Mr. Lorimer, the present possessor of the 
estate, and a descendant of the Herberts' by 
the female line, merrily relates an anecdote 
rising out of a contest for precedence be- 
tween the houses of Perthir and Werndee ; 
and which, it has been remarked, was car- 
ried on with as much inveteracy as that be- 
tween the houses of York and Lancaster, and 
was only perhaps less bloody, as they had 
not the power of sacrificing the lives of thou- 
sands in their foolish quarrel. Mr* Proger. 
of Werndee, in company with a friend, 

returning 






CHAP. XVIII PERTHIR. 191 

returning from Monmouth to his home* was 
suddenly overtaken by a violent storm ; and, 
unable to proceed; groped his way for re- 
fuge to his cousin Powell's, at Perthir. The 
family was retired to rest ; but the loud calls 
of the tern nest-beaten travellers soon brought 
Mr. Powell to a window; and k few words 
informed him of his relation's predicament, 
requesting a night's lodging; ''What! is 
M it you, cousin Progcr ? you and your friend 
" shall be instantly admitted ;— but upon one 
" condition, that you will never dispute with 
" me hereafter upon my being the head of 
f* the family. " — << Jjb| sir;" returned Mr. 
Proger> " were it to rain swords and daggers, 
M I would drive this night to Werndee, rather 
u than lower the consequence of my family." 
Here a string of arguments was brought for- 
ward on each side ; which* however in- 
teresting to the parties* would prove very 
trifling in relation, arid which, Kite all other 
contests grounded in prejudice and proceeded 
in with petulance; but served to fix both 
parties more firmly in their errors. They 
parted in the bitterest enmity; and the stran- 
ger; who had silently waited the issue of 
the contest in vain solicited a shelter from 
v % the 



292 SCRENFRITH CASTLE. CHAP. XVIII. 

the storm; for he was a friend of cousin 
Proger's ! 

Leaving Perth ir, we soon passed through 
the little village of Newcastle, which derives 
its name from a castle that may still be traced 
in an earthen mound 300 feet in circum- 
ference, and some intrenchments, but whose 
history no tradition reaches. This barrow, 
and an ancient oak of extraordinary size, are 
considered by the superstitious neighbourhood 
to be under the immediate protection of spirits 
and fairies, and to form the scene of their 
nocturnal revels. A spring near the village 
is deemed miraculous in the cure of rheu- 
matic and other disorders. 

Within a mile from this place we struck off 
the turnpike towards Screnfrith Castle, 
situated on the banks of the Monnow, in a 
sequestered spot environed by high hills. 
This fortress is of the simplest construction ; 
its area, . of a trapezium form, is merely sur- 
rounded bv a curtain wall with circular 
towers covering each angle, and a demi- 
turret projecting from the middle of one side. 
Near the centre of the area is a Juliet, or high 
round tower, upon a mound, which formed 
the keep, . the door and window apertures of 

which 



CHAP. XVIII. SCRRNFRITH CASTLE. 293 

which are circularly arched ; but the exte- 
rior walls of the castle appear to have been 
originally only furnished with oilets or chinks 
for shooting arrows through. Encumbered 
by the lowly habitations of a poor village, it 
has little claim to picturesque merit from 
most points of view ; but on the opposite side 
of the Monnow, combined with a Gothic 
bridge of two arches crossing the stream, it 
forms a pleasing picture, Screnfrith Castle 
is allowed to be the oldest in Monmouthshire; 
it is certainly of British erection, and is 
probably of as remote antiquity as any in 
Wales. 

Screnfrith, Grpsmont, and White Castles, 
formerly defended the lordship of Overwent; 
which, extending from the Wye to the Usk, 
nearly comprised the whole northern portion 
of Monmouthshire. This tract of country, 
with its castles, fell into the hands of Brian 
Fitz Count, Earl of Hereford, who came 
over with the Conqueror; but soon deviated 
from his family, and was afterwards seized 
by Henry the Third, and conferred on his 
favourite Hubert de Burgh. Upon the dis- 
grace of that virtuous and able minister, the 
capricious monarch granted the three castles 
v 3 to 



Q94* GROSMONT. * CHAP. XVIIIo 

to his son the Earl of Lancaster; and, with 
Caldecot castle, they still remain annexed to 
the dutchy. 

The continuance of our journey to Gross- 
mont, wandering in an irriguous valley 
among bye-lanes that were scarcely passable, 
although it proved very tedious in travelling, 
afforded us a succession of the most pleasing 
retired scenes imaginable. On our right a 
diversity of swells and hollows, variously 
clad in wild woods or cultivation, extended 
throughout our ride, where the lively and 
transparent Monnow, illumined by 

" The noon-tide beams 
" Which sparkling dances on the trembling stream/' 

serpentized its current in endless variety. Im- 
mediately on our left, the Graig, a huge so- 
litary mountain, reared its towering sides 
from the low lands in uncontended majesty,, 
and accompanied our road to the pleasing 
little village of Grosmont. 

This place stands at the north-eastern limit 
of Monmouthshire, in an agreeable undu- 
lating valley, diversified with wood and pas- 
ture, and beautifully accompanied by the 
meandering Monnow, here wantoning its 

most 



CHAP. XVIII. GROSMONT CASTLE. 295 

most fantastic course. On an eminence near 
the village, and swelling above the river, is 
the picturesque ruin of its castle ; a pile of 
no great extent, but well disposed, and pro- 
fusely decorated with shrubs and ivy. The 
form of the structure is irregular : large cir- 
cular towers cover the angles of the ramparts; 
within which are traces of the baronial hall 5 
and other apartments, and beyond the mount 
are some remains of the barbican, or redoubt, 
and several entrenchments. All the door 
and window arches are pointed Gothic, and 
of the proportion in use about the thirteenth 
century ; but the foundation of the castle is 
supposed to be coeval with that of Scren- 
frith's. — Grosmont church is a large Gothic 
structure, built in the form of a Roman cross; 
and, with its octagon tower, and high tapering 
spire, is a conspicuous ornament to the 
village . 

Though now an insignificant cluster of ha- 
bitations, Grosmont was formerly a town of 
some note. Many exterior traces of build- 
ings, and raised causeways, constructed like 
Roman roads with large blocks of stone, di- 
verging from it, prove its antique extent and 
Irriportance to have been considerable : nor 
v 4 is 



'296 JOHN OF KENT. CHAP. XVIII. 

is the legend of the place deficient in assert- 
ing its quondam consequence. 

But with still higher interest, with more volu- 
ble earnestness, the natives recount the exploits 
of their reputed necromancer, John of Kent. 
Among a thousand other instances of his 
magical skill, they confidently assure you, 
that when he was a hoy, being ordered to 
protect some corn from the birds, he con- 
jured all the crows in the neighbourhood 
into a barn without a roof, and by force of 
his incantations obliged them to remain there 
while he visited Grosmont fair. ■* A greater 
service that he performed for the country- 
was, his building the bridge over the Mon- 
now in one night by the agency of one of 
his familiars. Long did his strange actions 
frighten men out of their wits ; and at 
length, dying, he outwitted the devil ; for, 
in consideration of services while living, he 
agreed to surrender himself to his satanic 
majesty after his death, whether he was bu- 
ried in or out of church ; but, by ordering 
his body to be interred under the church 
wall, he contrived to slip out of the contract. 
A stone in the church-yard, near the chan- 
cel, 



CHAP. XVIII. JOHN OF KENT, 297 

eel, is said to mark the spot of this inter- 
ment. 

Higher tradition relates, that this extraor- 
dinary personage was a monk, who, pos- 
sessing a greater knowledge in natural philo- 
sophy than could at that time be generally 
comprehended, was reputed a sorcerer. The 
family of the Scudamores, at Kentchurch- 
house, about a mile from Grosmont, where 
he became domesticated, had a Latin trans- 
lation of the Bible written by him on vellum, 
but which is now lost. An ancient painting 
of him upon wood is, however, preserved in 
the mansion ; and a cellar in the house is 
described to have been the stable of his 
horses; steeds of no vulgar pedigree, which 
carried him through the air with more than 
the speed of witches. 

From a collation of different legends and 
circumstances, several respectable enquirers 
are inclined to believe, that this necromancer 
was no other than the famous Owen Glen- 
dower ; who, after his defeat, and the dis- 
persion of his army, concealed himself in 
the disguise of a bard, or wizard. A strong 
circumstance which favours this conjecture is, 

that 



29S JOHN OF KENT. CHAP. XVIII. 

that the daughter of Glendower married a 
Scudarnorc, who at the time occupied Kcnt- 
church-house. It may also be remarked, 
that neither the time of the chief's death, nor 
the place of his sepulture, were ever posi- 
tively ascertained. 

Upon our return to Monmouth from this 
excursion, we had the good fortune to fall 
into the .company of Mr. Wathen of Here- 
ford, the benefit of whose local information 
apd obliging assiduities has been felt by nu- 
merous tourists, as well as ourselves. This 
gentleman pointed out the most striking 
beauties of the Wye toward Ross ; and 
of his directions we gladly availed ourselves 
the following morning, when we bade 
adieu to Wales and Monmouthshire. But, 
as it is my object to effect a general deli- 
neation of that tract of country, I shall not 
hesitate to break the thread of my tour, and 
suspend a description of the Wye's scenery 
and some further continuance of our route, 
while I traverse the north-western part of 
Monmouthshire, and the eastern frontier of 
South-Wales, which yet remains unexplored. 
In this part of my work, I must describe 

things 



CHAP. XVIII, TOUR, 299 

things as they appeared to me six years 
since, when I visited this portion of coun- 
try in my return from a tour through the 
North of England and Wales, assisted by 
the best documents and observations that I 
have since been able to procure, 



CHAP. 



[ 3oo ] 



C H A P. XIX, 



ABBEY OF GRACE-DIEU SIR DAVID GAM 

WHITE CASTLE ABERGAVENNY HILLS 

— THE TOWNj CASTLE, AND CHURCH. 

WlTHIN a short distance southward of 
the road from Monmouth to Abergavenny, 
and about three miles from the first-men- 
tioned town, are the small remains of the 
abbey of Grace-dieu, chiefly formed into 
a bam, situated on a sequestered bank of the 
Troth y. A farm on the opposite side of the 
river was the park belonging to the abbey ; 
and hence it is called Parc-gras-dieu farm; 
the house of which is built on the ruins of the 
ancient lodge. 

LlandiloCresseney, the seat of Richard 
Lewis, Esq; pleasingly situated in a rich un- 
dulating country to the south of the road, 
about halfway to Abergavenny, is a modern 

house 



CHAP. XIX. WHITE CASTLE. 301 

house built on the site of an ancient mansion 
of the Powells. The position commands an 
interesting prospect of the neighbouring coun- 
try; and in the home vievv the church of 
Llandilo, with its high spire, forms a pic- 
turesque and leading object. In an adjoin- 
ing field, belonging to a farm that was for- 
merly the red-deer park of Raglan castle, is 
the site of Old Court, once the residence of 
the celebrated Sir David Gam, not less known 
for his courageous report upon having recon- 
noitred the enemy before the battle of Agin- 
court (" An't please you, my liege, there 
" are enough to be killed, enough to run 
" away, and enough to be taken prisoners") 
than for his valorous achievements and pre- 
servation of the kings life in the encounter, 
though at the expence of his own. The 
dukes of Beaufort and the earls of Pembroke 
are descended from Gladys, one of his nu- 
merous progeny, which tradition has by no 
means curtailed ; for it is asserted, that his 
children formed a line reaching from his 
house to the church. 

The ruins of White Castle are very con- 
siderable, crowning the summit of a ridgy 
eminence a mile and a half to the north of 

Llandilo, 



502 WHITE CASTLE. CHAP. XXX; 

Llandilo. Their figure is irregular ; flanked 
by six circular towers, Which, with the ram- 
parts, are pierced with oilets. Two ad- 
vancing massive towers guard the entrance, 
which was provided with a portcullis and 
drawbridge, and rendered still more formi- 
dable by an uncommonly large outwork be- 
yond the moat, which is remarkably deep. 
This ruin is from every point of view im- 
posing and grand ; but its ponderous unorna- 
mented towers, and its lofty battlements, 
whose dark colour is rendered still more 
dismal by the broad shadows of impendent 
foliage, rather conspire to raise an image of 
baronical haughtiness and oppression, than of 
its show and hospitality ; yet, in the time of 
Elizabeth, Churchyard describes it to be 

te A statelie seate, a loftie p'riftcelie place, 

et Whose beautie gives the simple soyle some grace." 

From the architecture of this castle I should 
suppose its antiquity to be at least coeval with 
the first settlement of the Normans in Gwcnu 
if not even more remote. Its history is com- 
mon with that of Screnfrith and Grosmont; 
but over both these it holds a decided supe- 
riority in extent, and massiveness of con- 
struction. 

On 



CHAP. XIX, ABERGAVENNY HILLS. 303 

On approaching Abergavenny, the 
tourist's attention is involuntarily arrested by 
the singular beauty and variety of interest 
which the spot embraces, particularly in its 
encircling hills. The road skirting the Little 
Sky ri eld, a well-formed hill richly kid out 
in wood and pasture, opens to a fine display 
of the vale of Usk beneath ; on the opposite 
side of which the continuous ridge of the 
wild Pontvpool hills, which form the west- 
ern boundary of the county, terminate in 
the heathy high-swelling Blorenge : a tract 
of wood sweeps along its base, and mixes 
with the sylvan knoll of Lanfoist, decorating 
its northern extremity. Further to the right, 
the elegant smooth cone of the Sugar-loaf, 
the highest of the Monmouthshire mountains, 
presents itself, issuing from among the four 
tributary eminences of the Pen-y-vale hills. 
Eastward of this mountain is the Great Sky- 
ridd, an object of considerable interest ; its 
bipartite and truly Alpine summit, without 
being a forced opposition, strikingly con- 
trasts the general undulating line of the 
neighbouring hills, and rears a distinct and 
noble character on the scene. The views 
from this mountain are scarcely inferior to 

those 



304 ABERGAVENNY HILLS. CHAP. XIX. 

those from the Sugar-loaf; while its craggy 
form, its asperitous summit, jagged into an 
immense fissure, and shelving to a ridge apex 
of fearful narrowness, impress a mixed emo- 
tion of awe and admiration on the adven- 
turous climber of the height, that more than 
compensates for a small inferiority of altitude. 
There was formerly, at the top of this moun- 
tain, a Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to 
St Michael, of which no vestiges remain ; 
but a remembrance of the site is preserved in 
a hollow place formed by the superstitious, 
who, resorting here on Michaelmas eve, 
carry away the earth to strew over the sepul- 
chres of their friends. According to the ba- 
rometrical measurement of General Roy, the 
height of the Sugar-loaf mountain is 1852 
feet perpendicular above the Gavenny ri- 
vulet, near its junction with the Usk. The 
Blorenge is 1720, and the Great Skyridd 
1498 feet from the same level. 

The expansive bases of these mountains, 
nearly approximating, descend to a finely- 
wooded fertile valley ; through which the 
river Usk, rushing from a majestic portal of 
wood, winds in a bright translucid stream, 
with all the impetuosity of its mountain 

character. 



CHAP. XIX. ABERGAVENNY. 305 

character. At the foot of one of the confe- 
derated hills sustaining the towering cone of 
the Sugar-loaf, which gently inclines to the 
river, Abergavenny is situated; a straggling 
irregular town, pleasingly interspersed with 
trees, but deriving its highest attraction from 
the charms of its position. 

Upon an eminence above the river, near 
the southern extremity of the town, is the 
ruined castle, which in its present state ex- 
hibits very few memorials of former mag- 
nificence. The gate-house, or principal 
entrance, is tolerably entire, and vestiges 
of two courts may be traced among the 
broken ! walls • but of the citadel no traces 
remain, although an intrenched rnoui^ close 
to the ruins evidently marks its site. The 
town was also fortified, and many portions of 
the work remain, particularly Tudor's gate, 
the western entrance, furnished with two 
portcullisses, and remarkable for the beauti- 
fully composed landscape seen through it. 
This castle is said to have been built by a 
giant named Agros : without contending for 
the accuracy of this tradition, however, it is 
certain, that the principal part was erected 

x by 



306 ABERGAVENNY CASTLE. CHAP. XIX, 

by the Normans upon the site of a British 
fortress. 

In the twelfth century some native forces, 
headed by Sitfylt ap Dyfnwald, a Welch 
prince, assailed this castle, and took pri- 
soners the Anglo-Norman garrison, with their 
chief, William-de-Braose, lord of Brecon. 
William being, upon an adjustment of dif- 
ferences, reinstated in his possessions, invited 
Sitfylt, his son Geoffery, and other chieftains of 
Gwent, to a great feast at Abergavenny Castle, 
where they were all treacherously murdered : 
he then surprised Sitfylt's house, and slew his 
other son, Cadwallader, in the presence of 
his mother. This barbarity did not escape 
punishment. William, flying his country, 
died a wretched wanderer at Paris ; and his 
wife and son were famished in Windsor 
Castle. The fate of his grandson, Reginald, 
may also be considered in the light of a retri- 
bution : Llewelyn prince of Wales, suspect- 
ing him, as Dugdale relates, " of over much 
familiarity with his wife," subtilly invited 
him to an eastern feast; and towards the 
close of the banquet, charging him with the 
act, threw him into prison, where he suf- 
fered 



CHAP. XIX. ABERGAVENNY CHURCH. 307 

fered a violent death, together with the 
adultress. In 1273, we find the country of 
Overwent, including the castle of Aber- 
gavenny^ in the possession of John de 
Hastings, a very pink of chivalry. A suc- 
cession of valorous knights inherited this do* 
main ; but Richard Earl of Warwick, who 
became lord of Abergavenny in the com- 
mencement of tlie fifteenth century, sur- 
passed them all, and even John himself, in 
military. fame, and manners debonnair: he 
signalized himself in tournaments at most of 
the courts in Europe, and obtained the ho- 
nourable appellation of " the father of 
courtesy.' ' 

The church is a large Gothic structure, 
and appears to have been built in the form of 
a Roman cross, but is now curtailed of its 
transepts ; at the juncture of one of them, 
a circular arch, now filled up, wears a Nor- 
man character, and seems to have been part 
of the original building. Three arches, cu- 
riously dissimilar, . separate the north aile 
from the nave. The choir remains in its an- 
tique state, with stalls for a prior and his 
monks, formed of oak, and rudely carved ; 
and the ailes on either side are furnished 
x 2 with 



SOS ABERGAVENNY CHURCH. CHAP. XIX. 

with the monuments of several illustrious per- 
sonages. 

On the north of the choir is the figure of a 
man in a coat of mail, with a bull at his 
feet ; supposed to be the monument of Sir 
Edward Nevill, which is thus explained by 
Churchyard : 

" His force was much \ for he by strength 

<e With bull did struggle so, 
" He broke cleane off his horns at length, 

" And therewith let him go." 

On the opposite side is the recumbent effigy 
of an armed knight, his legs across*, and 
his feet resting on a greyhound. Of this the 
sexton's legend relates, that the knight, re- 
turning home, saw his infant son lying on 
the floor covered with blood, with his cradle 
overturned at his side, and the hound stand- 
ing by, with his mouth besmeared with gore. 
Conceiving that the dog had attacked the 
child, he instantly killed it ; but soon disco- 
vered, that the blood issued from a large ser- 

* This cross-legged position of sepulchral effigies does not 
denote that the person represented was a Knight Templar, 
as is generally supposed , but that he had visited the Holy 
Land : indeed, his having entered into vows that he would 
perform the journey., entitled him to this distinction. 

pent 



CHAP. XIX. ABERGAVENNY CHURCH. 30$ 

pent that had writhed about the child, and 
which this faithful animal had destroyed. 

In the middle of the south aile of the 
choir, generally called the Herberts' chapel, 
is the effigy of Sir William ap Thomas, and 
his wife Gladys, daughter of the celebrated 
Sir David Gam. Beneath a handsome ala- 
baster monument, at the further end of the 
chapel, repose the ashes of Sir Richard Her- 
bert, of Cold brook, and his wife. This Sir 
Richard, a younger son of the just men- 
tioned Sir William ap Thomas, was a man of 
gigantic stature and uncommon strength. In 
the contest between the houses of York and 
Lancaster, he with his brother the Earl of 
Pembroke supported the White rose at the 
battle of Banbury, where he was at length 
taken prisoner, and finally executed by the 
successful faction; but not until he had 
passed and repassed twice through the adverse 
army, killing with a pole-ax no less than 
140 men; which, his illustrious descendant 
and biographer, lord Herbert of Cberbury, 
remarks, is more than is famed of Amadis de 
Gaul, or the Knight of the Sun. The richest 
monument in the church is that of Sir 
Richard Herbert of Ewias, " his nephew, 
x 3 which 



310 ABERGAVENNY. CHAP. XIX. 

which occupies a recess in the south wall of 
the chapel. 

Before the dissolution of religious houses, 
this church belonged to a priory of Bener 
dictine monks, which was founded by 
Hamelin Baladun *, who is also said to have 
built the castle. The priory house, adjoining 
the nave of the church, is converted into a 
commodious dwelling, which was lately te-? 
nanted by the Gunter and Milbome family. 
The free-school in the town was founded by 
Henry the Eighth, and amply endowed with 
the revenues of forfeited monasteries, &c. 

Abergavenny was a Roman town, the Go- 
bannium of Antoninus. Leland describes it 
to be f - a faire waulled town, meately well 
inhabited ;" and an account of Monmouth- 
shire written in 1602 represents it as " a fine 
town - wealthy and thriving, and the very 

* One of his posterity, William de Braose, in the reign 
of King John, says Dugdal'e, " gave the tithes of his castle, 
<c viz. of bread, wine, beer, cyder, all manner of flesh, fish,, 
f salt, honey, wax, tallow, and in general whatsoever 
(: should be brought thither and spent there, upon con- 
c{ dition that the Abbot and Convent of St. Vincent's in 
" Mans, to which the priory was a cell, should daily pray 
f ( for the soul of King Henry the First; as also for the soul 
lf of him the said William and the soul of Maud his wife." - 

best 



CHAP. XIX. ABERGAVENNY. 311 

best in the shire." But during the last cen- 
tury it was in a very declining state until the 
establishment of some great iron-works, which 
have lately sprung up in the adjacent moun- 
tains. When full-bottomed flaxen wigs were 
the rage, the town enjoyed a temporary pros- 
perity from a method peculiar to its inhabi- 
tants of "bleaching hair ; but, perriwigs being 
no longer the rage, the place was hastening 
to decay : just at this juncture the faculty- 
proclaimed that goats-whey was a specific in 
consumptive eases; and crowds of invalids, 
under the fiat of death, immediately en- 
livened the town. But the fashions of doc- 
tors are no more stationary than those of 
beaux.; the ton for goats-whey soon dimi- 
nished ; and, deprived of patients as well as 
perriwigs, the place was relapsing into po- 
verty and desertion, when the fortunate dis- 
covery of the Blaenavon iron mines (a grand 
concern in the recesses of the Blorenge moun^ 
tain well worth the tourist's attention) gave a 
•new face to the town, and still daily ei> 
creases its population . 



x 4 CHAP, 



[ 312 ] 



CHAP. XX, 



WERNDEE — FAMILY PRIDE LANTHONY 

ABBEY OLD CASTLE, 

ABOUT two miles from Abergavenny is 
Werndee, a poor patched-up house : though 
once a mansion of no less magnificence than 
antiquity, it is now only interesting as being 
considered to have been the spot where the 
prolific Herbert race was first implanted in 
Britain. Henry de Herbert, chamberlain to 
king Henry the First, is supposed to have 
been their great ancestor. Of the vast pos- 
sessions that formerly supported the grandeur 
of the Herberts, the inheritance of Mr. 
Proger, the last lineal descendant from the 
elder branch of this family, who died about 
twenty years since, had dwindled to less than 
two hundred a year. Mr. Coxe relates an 
anecdote of this gentleman's pride of an- 
cestry, 



CHAP. XX, WERNDEE, 313 

cestry, which may be compared with the 
remarks on Perthir*; at the same time, it 
conveys a brief outline of the family's ge- 
nealogy. 

Mr. Proger accidentally met a stranger near 
his house, who made various enquiries re- 
specting the prospects and local objects of the 
situation ; and at length demanded, " Pray, 
*' whose is this antique mansion before us ?" — 
46 That, Sir, is "Werndee : a very ancient 
u house ; for out of it came the earls of Pem- 
" broke of the first line, and the earls of Pem- 
" broke of the second line ; the lords Her- 
" bert of Cherbury, the Herberts of Cold- 
" brook, Rumney, Cardiff, and York ; the 
u Morgans of Acton ; the earl of Hunsdon ; 
" the Jones's of Treowen and Lanarth, and 
" all the Powells. Out of this house also., 
" by the female line, came the dukes of 
" Beaufort." — " And pray, Sir, who lives 
" there now F" — " I do, Sir." — Then pardon 
" me, Sir — do not lose sight of all these 
M prudent examples; but come out of it 
" yourself, or 'twill tumble and crush you." 

A principal excursion from Abergavenny 
is that which leads northward to Lanthony 

* See Page 290. 

abbey, 



314 LLANVIHANGEL CRICKHORNELL. 

abbey, a majestic ruin seated in a deep recess 
of the Black mountains, at the very extre- 
mity of the county. The first, part of the 
route lies through a romantic pass between 
the Skyridd and Sugar-loaf mountains, upon 
the Hereford turnpike. Proceeding about 
two miles, the church of Landeilo Bertholly 
appears on the right ; and not far from it an 
antique mansion called the White-house, a 
residence of the Floyers. Another ancient 
house occurs at the village of Llanvihangel 
Crickhornell, seen through groves of firs, 
lately a seat of the Arnolds, but now occu- 
pied as a farm-house. From this spot a ditch- 
like road, almost impracticable for carriages-, 
strikes off among the mountains, 

iS Through tangled forests, and through dang'rous ways/* 

carried upon precipices impendent over the 
brawling torrent of the Hondy. Sometimes 
the road opens to scenes of the most romantic 
description, where, at an immense depth 
beneath, the torrent is seen raging in a bed 
of rocks, and mountains of the most imposing 
aspect rise from the valley, — 

" The nodding horrors of whose shady brows 
' Threat the forlorn and wand'ring traveller." 

Immediately 



CHAP. XX. LANTHONY ABBEY. 315 

Immediately to the .left of the road rises the 
Gaer, a huge rocky hill crowned with an 
ancient encampment. On the opposite side 
of the river, fearfully hanging on a steep 
cliff, and beneath a menacing hill bristled 
with innumerable craigs, is the romantic 
village of Cwmjoy. Landscapes of the bold- 
est composition would be continual, but that 
the road, formed into a deep hollow, and 
overtopped by hedge-row elms, excludes the 
traveller from almost every view but that of 
his embowered track. The pedestrian, how- 
ever, is at liberty, while ranging among 
heaths and fields above the road, to enjoy the 
wild grandeur of the country, which will 
hardly fail to repay him for his additional toil. 

In the deep gloomy vale of Ewias, en- 
circled by the barren summits of the Black 
mountains, but enjoying some degree of local 
cultivation, and enlivened by the crystalline 
Hondy, is situated the ruin of Lanthony 
Abbey. 

Venerable and grand, but wholly devoid 
of ornament, it partakes of the character of 
the surrounding scenery. Not a single ten- 
dril of ivy decorates the massive walls of the 
structure, and but a. sprinkling of shrubs and 

light 



516 JLANTHONY ABBEY. CHAP. XX, 

light branchy trees fringe the high parapets, 
or shade the broken fragments beneath. 

<( Where rev'rend shrines in Gothic grandeur stood, 
ee The nettle or the noxious night-shade spreads ; 

f And ashlings, wafted from the neighbouring wood, 

"" Through the worn turrets wave their trembling heads.'* 

The area of the church is not very extensive ; 
the length is 212 feet; the breadth 50; and 
it measures 100 across the transepts. The 
roof has long since fallen in, and a great 
part of the south wall is now a prostrate ruin ; 
but the view afforded of the interior, in con- 
sequence, is extremely grand and pictu- 
resque. A double row of pointed arches, 
reposing on massive piers, separate the side 
ailes from the nave ; above which, divided 
from the Gothic form by a strait band or 
fascia, is a series of small circular arches : 
an intermixture and arrangement of the two 
forms that characterize the earliest use of 
Gothic architecture. Two lofty arches, rising 
from the middle of the church, still sustain a 
massive portion of the tower, whose doubt- 
fully poised and ponderous bulk seriously 
menaces the adventurous explorer of the 
ruin. The grandeur of the western front 
cannot be passed unnoticed ; nor, looking 
over the fragments of the choir, the fine view 

of 



GHA?. XX. L ANTHONY ABBEY. Si* 

of the inside ruin, seen through the great east- 
ern arch of the tower ; neither is a small 
chapel adjoining the south transept, with a well- 
formed engroined roof, to be neglected: the 
transept is remarkable for a large Norman arch- 
way that led into the south aile of the choir. 

Many portions of building appear in de- 
tached heaps near the abbey church, parti- 
cularly a bold arch in a neighbouring barn, 
which seems to have formed the principal 
entrance to the abbey. Among these the 
natives point out a low subterraneous passage, 
faced with hewn stone, which they suppose 
to have had a connexion with Old Castle* 
about three miles distant. 

St. David, the uncle of king Arthur (say 
ancient legends), was so struck with this se- 
questered recess, then almost unconscious of 
a human footstep, that he built a chapel on 
the spot, and passed many years in it as a 
hermit. William, a retainer of the earl of 
Hereford's in die reign of William Rufus, 
being led into the valley in pursuit of a deer, 
espied the hermitage. The deep solitude 01 
the place, and the mysterious appearance of 
the building, conspired to fill him with reli- 
gious enthusiasm ; and he instantly disclaimed 

all 



318 L ANTHONY ABBEY. CHAF. X-X, 

all worldly enjoyments for a life of prayer and 
mortification* 

In a curious account of the abbey, written* 
by one of its monks, which is preserved in 
Dugdale's Monasticon, and translated into 
English by Atkyns, in his History of Glou- 
cestershire, it is recorded, that f He laid 
" aside his belt and girded himself with $ 
16 rope ; instead of fine linen, he covered 
" himself with hair-cloth ; and instead of his 
" soldier's robe, he loaded himself with 
" weighty irons. The suit of armour, which 
" before defended him from the darts of his 
" enemies, he still wore as a garment to 
" harden him against the soft temptations of 
" his old enemy Satan ; that, as the outward 
" man was afflicted by austerity, the inner- 
" man might be secured for the service of 
" God. That his zeal might not cool, he 
" thus crucified himself, and continued thi> 
" hard armour on his body until it was worn 
" out with rust and age/' 

His austerity of life, and sanctity, not only 
drew to him a colleague (Ernesi, chaplain to 
Maud wife of Henry the First), but excited 
the reverence of many high characters, and 

induced 



CHAP. XX. L ANTHONY ABBEY* Sl§. 

induced Hugh de Laci, earl of Hereford, to 
found a priory of regular canons of the order 
of St. Austin on the site of the Hermitage. 
The institution adopted William's mortifying 
system, and its reputation occasioned nu- 
merous donations to be offered ; but they 
were constantly refused, and the acquisition 
of wealth deprecated as a dreadful misfortune. 
William was determined f* to dwell poor in 
" the house of God." The monk of Lan- 
thony comically relates, that " Queen Maud, 
" not sufficiently acquainted with the sanctity 
" and disinterestedness of William, once de- 
" sired permission to put her hand into his 
*' bosom ; and when he with great modesty 
" submitted to her importunity, she con- 
" veyed a large purse of gold between his 
(< coarse shirt and iron boddice ; and thus by 
<e a pleasant and innocent subtlety admi- 
" nistered some comfortable relief to him. 
" But oh the wonderful contempt of the world ! 
" He displayed a rare example, that the truest" 
M happiness consists in possessing little or no- 
tf thing ! He complied, indeed, but unwill- 
** ingly, and only with a view that the queen 
" might employ her devout liberality in adorn- 
" fng the church," His scruples thus over- 
come, 



S20 tANTHoNY ABBEY. CHAP* XX. 

come, a new church on a more magnificent 
plan was erected (that which now appears) ; 
it soon displayed the usual pomp of the craft, 
and in less than thirty years the monks came 
to one opinion, that " the outward man" 
deserved consideration ; that the " place was 
" unfit for a reasonable creature, much less 
u for religious persons :" nay some said, that 
11 they wished every stone of the foundation 
** a stout hare ';" others, still more wicked, 
" that every stone was at the bottom of the 
*' sea." Hence, in the year 1136", we find 
a new Lanthony abbey built and consecrated 
near Gloucester* which, although at first 
only a cell to our abbey, soon assumed a pri- 
ority over the parent foundation. The trea- 
sures, library, rich vestments, and even bells, 
were removed to the new house : the old 
Lanthony then came to be considered as a 
prison by the fat monks of the Severn, who 
sent thither only " their old and useless 
members." 

In doleful mood the monk complains, 
" We are made the scum and outcast of the 
"brethren." — "They permitted the mo- 
Cf nastery to be reduced to such poverty, 
i( that the friars were without surplices, and 

" compelled 



CHAP. XX. OLDCASTLE. 321 

" compelled to perform the duties of the 
" church against the customs and rules of the 
" order. Sometimes thev had no breeches, 
" and could not attend divine service." 
Thus it appears, that eventually the condition 
of the monks, though sore against their wills, 
reverted to the intention of their founder. 
The monastery continued in this unthriving 
state till the dissolution of those concerns ; 
when, according to Dugdale, the abbey near 
Gloucester was valued at 648/. 19s. lid. and 
this in Monmouthshire at 71/. 3s. c 2d. 

Oldcastle, a little village on the eastern 
slope of the Black mountains which skirt the 
vale of Ewias on the right, is supposed by 
Gale and Stukeley to have been the ancient 
Blestium, but upon grounds that are very in- 
conclusive : true it is, however, that several 
encampments near the spot wear a Roman 
character, and they were in the habit of 
raising such camps near their station. But 
the place is more noticed as having been the. 
residence of Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cob- 
ham, the companion of Henry the Fifth, 
and afterwards chief of the Lollards, and 
martyr to their religious views. His ancient 
mansion, called the court-house, was taken 

y down 



322 OLDCASTLE. CHAP. XX. 

down about thirty years ago ; so that nothing 
now remains to satisfy the antiquary. 

But the picturesque traveller will hardly 
fail of a lively interest,* while, traversing the 
superior heights of the neighbouring moun- 
tains, he views the grand extent of the Mon- 
mouthshire wilds, and traces the different 
combinations of its majestic hills, which in 
some parts range into the most sinuous forms, 
in others extend for many miles into direct 
longitudinal ridges ; oi\> when, withdrawing 
from the sterile dignity of the high lands, his 
eye gratefully reposes on the gentle vallies 
that sweep beneath their brows, enlivened 
by glistening streams, and rich in all th^ 
luxuriance of high cultivation* 



C H A P. 



[ 323 ] 



CH A P. XXI. 



HE-ENTRANCE OF SOUTH WALES CRICK- 

HOWELL TRETOWER BRECON CASTLE 

AND PRIORY ROAD TO LLANDOVERY — • 

TRECASTLE PASS OF CWM-DUR- — LLAN- 
DOVERY CASTLE ROAD FROM BRECON 

TO HEREFORD BRUNLYSS CASTLE 

FEMALE VENGEANCE HAY CLIFFORD 

CASTLE. 

1 HE road from Abergavenny to Brecon, 
bordering die clear and lively Usk in a ro- 
mantic valley, soon leaves the charming 
county of Monmouth ; but is attended with 
such a continuance of agreeable scenery as 
may diminish in a considerable degree the 
regret of the tourist. Among the verdant 
accompaniments of the serpentizing river, 
the rich groves and smiling lawns of Pany 

y 2 Park 



324 CRICKHOWELL. CHAP. XXI. 

Park are conspicuous, swelling above a fertile 
vale, and backed by a range of wild moun- 
tains. Nearly opposite this, in a field to the 
right of the road and the fifteen mile-stone 
from Brecon, is a single upright stone, about 
fourteen feet high, conjectured to be a mo- 
nument of the druidical ages. 

Crickhowell, about two miles farther, 
is an old mean-built town ; but, hanging on 
the steep declivities of a fine hill, and digni- 
fied with the picturesque ruin of a castle, it 
is an interesting object in the approach. 
The extent of this fragment of antiquity (of 
obscure origin), sometimes called Alashby 
Castle, is by no means considerable; the 
foundation of the keep, seated on a high ar- 
tificial mound, denotes much original strength, 
and all the standing walls shew a very remote 
erection ; although a few enrichments of 
later times may be perceived beneath the 
thickly-woven ivy. A narrow Gothic bridge 
crosses the Usk here to the pleasing village of 
Langottoc, the neighbourhood of which k 
enlivened with several handsome seats ; but 
no one is more remarkable for the excellence 
of its position and the singularity of its de- 
sign 



CHAP. XXI. TRETOWER. 325 

sign than a lately-erected residence of Ad- 
miral GelFs. 

The road continues scenic and entertaining 
to the small village of Tretower, only to 
be noticed for a few picturesque fragments of 
its castle, once the residence of Mynarch 
lord of Brecon. Then winding round a co- 
nical eminence, the road ascends a mighty 
hill called the Bwlch, which term signifies a 
rent in a mountain : during which ascent, a 
farewel view of the vale of the Usk, with a 
small tributary valley, and its appendant stream 
descending from some gloomy mountains to 
the north, and joining it near the castle of 
Tretower, is truly interesting and grand. But 
from these wide-ranging views, and all ex- 
ternal scenery, the tourist becomes shut up 
on entering the pass of the mountains, a 
sterile hollow, from which he emerges on a 
subject of an entirely opposite and very sin- 
gular description. Surrounded by dark 
mountains, melancholy and waste, appears 
an extensive lake called Langor's Pool, 
upwards of six miles in circumference; which, 
as the natives assure you, is the site of a large 
city swallowed up by an earthquake, and is 
y 3 so 



326 BLAEN-LLEVENY CASTLE. CHAP. XXI^ 

so well furnished with perch, tench, and eels, 
as to be one-third fish to two-thirds water. 

In the neighbourhood of the lake north- 
eastward, and near the head of the Lleveny 
brook, which empties itself into the pool, I 
find described the ruins of Blaen-Lleveny 
Castle. It was fortified by Peter Fitz- 
Herbert, descended of Bernard deNewmarch, 
lord of Brecon, according to the opinion of 
some antiquaries, upon the site of the Roman 
Loventium. 

The road soon descends to the fine vale of 
Brecon, grandly accompanied by a semicir- 
cular range of mountains ; where, proudly 
rising in superior majesty, the Van rears its 
furrowed and bipartite summit high above 
the clouds. Advancing, cultivation takes 
a more extensive sweep, and picturesque dis^ 
position becomes frequent. TheUsk flowing 
round the foot of the Bwlch, cloathed with 
the extensive plantations of Bucklaod-house, 
salutes the beholder with renewed attractions ; 
and farther up the vale laves the charming 
woody eminence of Peterstone in its sinuous 
career. 

On the left of the road, about five miles 
from Brecon, is a stone pillar, six feet in 

height, 



CHAP. XXI. BRECON. S27 

height, and nearly cylindrical ; on which 

is an inscription that Camden read, N 

FILIUS VICTORINI, but which is now al- 
most obliterated. He supposes it a monu- 
ment of later ages than the Romans, although 
inscribed with their characters, and wearing 
the general appearance of a Roman cippus-. 
In the parish of Llahn Hamwalch, standing 
on the summit of a hill near the church, 
(which is to the left of the road a little be- 
yond the former monument) I find described 
St. Iltut's hermitage, composed of four large 
flat stones ; three of which, standing upright, 
are surmounted by the fourth, so as to form a 
sort of hut, eight feet long, four wide, and 
nearly the same in height. This kind of 
monument is called a Kist-vaen, a variety of 
the Cromlech order, and supposed to have 
been applied to the same purposes. 

Brecon is delightfully situated upon a 
gentle swell above the Usk, overlooking a fer- 
tile highly-cultivated valley enlivened with 
numerous seats, and enriched with several 
sylvan knolls. On one side of the town, be- 
neath the majestic hanging groves of the 
priory, the impetuous Hondy loudly tmm 
y 4 murs 



328 BRECON CASTLE. CHAP. XXI. 

murs, and unites with the Usk a small 
distance beyond its handsome bridge. Though 
the town boasts many capital residences, yet, 
encumbered by a number of mean hovels 
even in its principal situations, and deficient 
in regulations of cleanliness, it fails to create 
any idea of importance. Its once magnifi- 
cent castle is now curtailed to a very insigni- 
ficant ruin ; and that little is so choaked up 
with miserable habitations, as to exhibit no 
token of antique grandeur: some broken 
walls and a solitary tower compose its re- 
mains. 

Brecon Castle was founded by Bernard 
de Newmarch in the reign of William Ruffls. 
Llewelyn prince of Wales besieged it when 
asserting the rights of his ancestry and friends, 
but without success. Passing through the 
hands of the Braoses and Bohuns, it fell to 
the king-making Buckingham, when it be- 
came the seat of chivalric splendour. To his 
care Dr. Morton, bishop of Ely, was com- 
mitted by Richard the Third ; and the re- 
maining turret is still called Ely tower by the 
natives, and described to have been his 
prison. Buckingham, fired with resentment 

by 



CHAP. XXI. BRECON. $29 

by the ingratitude of Richard, whom he had 
raised to power, contrived, with his prisoner 
in this place, the means of his overthrow. 
The plot succeeded, but the duke was be- 
trayed and taken before its completion, and 
lost his head : the more wary priest retired 
in secresy during its operation, and preserved 
his to wear the metropolitan mitre in the en- 
suing reign. Bernard also founded a Bene- 
dictine priory for six monks westward of the 
town ; it was dedicated to St. John, subor- 
dinate to Battle abbey in Sussex, and became 
collegiate under Henry the Eighth. The 
church is a grand cruciform building, 200 
feet in length by 60 in width, and has an 
embattled tower 90 feet high rising from the 
centre of the building. A cloister extends 
from the church to the priory-house ; where 
the tourist, as he paces the refectory, or 
great dining-room, may speculate on monkish 
carousals, where blue-eyed nuns were jo- 
vially toasted, and secret confessions anti- 
cipated. 

But the most fascinating attraction of the 
town is its two delightful walks : the one 
traced on the margin of the noble Usk ; the 
other, called the priory walk, a luxuriant 

grove 



530 BRECON. CHAP. XXI, 

grove impendent over the brawling Hondy, 
once assigned to the meditations of monkish 
fraud, bat now more happily applied to the 
use of the townspeople, and enlivened on 
fine evenings by a brilliant promenade of 
Cambrian beauties. 

This town, built on the site of a Roman 
station *, was originally called Aber-Hondy. 
After the departure of the Romans, the lord- 
ship of Brecon remained in the hands of the 
Britons till the reign of William Rufus ; when 
Bernard de Newmarch, a Norman baron of 
great skill and prowess, having assembled a 
large body of troops, made a successful inroad 
into the country, killed the British chief 
Bledhyn ap Maenyrch, and retained his son 
prisoner in Brecon castle during his life ; 
though he, at the same time, allowed him a 
nominal share of his father's territories. He 
fliefl fortified the town with a castle, and an 
encircling wall, having three gates ; and fur- 

* There is an oblong camp in the neighbourhood of the 
town called Y Gaer ; where Roman bricks, bearing the in- 
scription LEG. II. AUG. are frequently ploughed up. Near 
this camp is a rude pillar, about six feet high, called the 
ten stone ; on one side of which are the figures of a man 
and woman coarsely carved in relief. 

ther 



CHAP. XXI. TRECASTLE. 331 

ther strengthened his cause by taking to 
wife Nesta, grand-daughter of Gruffyth prince 
of Wales. 

A road passing from Brecon through Llan- 
dovery to Llandilo, in Caermarthenshire, 
we did not travel ; but find it described as 
highly picturesque, and otherwise interesting. 
For several miles it traverses an undulating 
district enlivened by the Usk ; which now, 
approaching its source in the Trecastle hills, 
assumes all the impetuosity of a mountain 
torrent. The spacious lawns, long avenues 
of trees, and extensive plantations of Penbont, 
grace the borders of the stream about three 
miles from Brecon ; and on the left of the 
road, a small distance further, appear the 
trifling remains of Davenock castle. Tre- 
castle, ten miles from Brecon, a small 
village but possessing a good inn, is deprived 
of every vestige of its ancient fortification. 
From this place the road winds for nine miles 
to Llandovery, in a deep valley, between 
the mountains, called Cwm-Dwr, a romantic 
pass watered by a lively stream, and dotted 
with numerous cottages, whose fertile hollow 
is beautifully contrasted by the wild aspect of 

the 



332 LLANDOVERY. CHAP. XXI. 

the impendent heights. Llandovery is a 
small irregular town, nearly encompassed by 
rivulets, and only to be noticed by the pic- 
turesque traveller for the small ruins of its 
ivy-mantled castle. The road then continues 
to Llandilo on a high terrace, ornamented on 
the right by the groves of Taliaris and Aber- 
marle parks, and overlooking the upper vale 
of Towey, rich in cultivation and the beauty 
of its stream. 

On the road to Hereford from Brecon, 
about seven miles, is Brunlyss Castle ; 
the principal and almost only feature of which 
is a high round tower on an artificial mount. 
Its foundation is uncertain, but cannot be 
later than the first settlement of the Normans 
in the county. There is a curious circum- 
stance connected with an incident in the 
history of this castle, which I think very pro- 
bably suggested the character of Faulcon- 
bridge in Shakespeare's play of King John. 
The acknowledged son and heir of Bernard 
de Newmarch and his wife Nesta was Mahel, 
a dauntless youth, who, after the death of 
Bernard, having affronted a paramour of his 
mother's, and upbraided the matron herself, 

became 



CHAP. XXI. HAY. 335 

became in a most extraordinary manner de- 
prived of his inheritance. Nesta, enraged 
at the interference of her son in her tender 
arrangements, presented herself before Henry 
the Second, and solemnly made oath that 
lie was not the son of Bernard lord of Brecon, 
but was begotten by a Cambrian warrior, 
thereby proclaiming her son a bastard, and 
satisfying her revenge, though at the expence 
of every maternal tie and of the strongest 
sentiments of female worth. Bernard's estates, 
in consequence, fell to his daughter Sibyl 
wife of Milo earl of Hereford ; and Mahel, 
ejected from his patrimony, became a law- 
less desperado. Once, as he was on a pre- 
datory excursion over the domains of David 
Fitzgerald, bishop of St. David's, he was en- 
tertained by Walter de Clifford in Brunlyss 
Castle for one night ; when the building 
took fire, and he, in endeavouring to es- 
cape, was crushed to death by the falling of 
a stone. 

Hay, a small populous town on this road, 
at the extremity of the principality, occupies 
an eminence near the banks of &e Wye, 
and was formerly graced with a fine castle, 

which 



334* CLIFFORD CASTLE. CHAP. XXI. 

which is now reduced to a few broken walls : 
but Clifford, a mile or two further, on 
the upper road to Hereford, still exhibits the 
majestic remains of its castle, crowning a bold 
hill which towers above the river, and has 
been long renowned as having been the 
birth-place of the lovely, but frail fair Ro- 
samond, 



CHAP. 



[ M5 ] 



CHAP. XXII. 



BUALT —PRINCE LLEWELYN RHAYDER- 

GOWY — CARACTACUS's CAMP — OFFA's 

DYKE KNIGHTON — - PRE3TEXGN- — OLD 

AND NEW RADNOR — LLANDRINDOD 
WELLS. 

PROCEEDING northward from Brecon, 
the road passes over an abrupt succession of 
hills and hollows near the impatient Honcly, 
which is seen to extend for several miles 
through a wild romantic valley. On leaving 
the lively rivulet's devious course, the road 
traverses an extensive hilly tract, from whose 
summits a grand expansive valley, dignified 
with the sinuous Wye, bursts upon the view 
in a long continuance of varied scenery. 
The town of Bualt occupies a spot on the 
near most side of the vale, overhanging the 
pride of Welch rivers ; and beyond its op- 
posite 



t>36 BUALT. CHAP. XXII. 

posite hilly boundary, a majestic outline of 
distant mountains defines the horizon. A 
picturesque cascade, rushing through a por- 
tal of rocks and woods to the left of the road, 
must not be passed unnoticed ; it occurs 
within a mile of Bualt; and after crossing 
the road beneath its bridge, the stream unites 
with the Wye. 

Bualt is a small market-town comprised 
in two streets rising one over the other, upon 
the high shelving bank of the river. Al- 
though anciently and irregularly built, it is 
much resorted to by the neighbouring gentry, 
not less for the beauty of its position, than 
for the famed salubrity of its air. Camden 
supposes it to be the Bullacum Silurum of 
Ptolemy, and the Burrium of Antoninus. 
Horseley, on the other hand, fixes upon 
Usk in Monmouthshire as the site of that 
Roman station ; while other antiquaries con- 
tend in favour of Caerphilly. However this 
may have been, the only vestige of high an- 
tiquity that now marks the place is a mound, 
the site of the keep of its castle, which was 
burnt down in 1690. 

It was in the neighbourhood of Bualt, be- 
tween the Wye and its tributary stream the 

Irvon, 



CHAP. XXII. PRINCE LLEWELYN. S37 

Trvon, that the Cambrian warriors made their 
last stand for independence* The brave 
Llewelyn ^ 

*' Great patriot hero, ill-requited chief/' 

after a transient victory at the foot of Snow- 
don, led his troops to this position, where 
they were unexpectedly attacked and defeated 
by the English forces, while Llewelyn, un- 
armed, was employed in a conference with 
some chieftains in a valley not far distant. The 
prince was informed of the event by the cries 
of his flying army ; and all that prompt in- 
trepidity could effect he exerted to rejoin his 
men ; but in vain ; the spear of his enemy 
pierced his side, and happily spared him the 
anguish of witnessing the irretrievable ruin of 
his country's liberties. 

Edward's conduct to the body of this 
prince, royal like himself, of a lineage still 
more ancient and noble, and who boldly fell 
asserting the fights of his country and inheri- 
tance, has affixed a blot on his memory, which 
not all his well-regulated ambition, not all the 
splendour of his victories, can gloss over, or 
efface from the page of history. The prince's 
head was received in London with such de- 
z monstrations 



338 THE WYE. CHAP. XXIF* 

monstrations of joy by the citizens, as might 
have suited a conquest over a predatory in- 
vader ; it was carried on the point of a 
lance through Cheapside ; and, after having 
been fixed in the pillory, was placed on the 
highest part of the tower of London, to glut 
the eyes of the multitude. So easy is it to 
impose on the natural feelings of a people 
once cajoled into an approval of military 
despotism and cruelty. 

On leaving Bualt, and crossing its bridge^ 
the tourist enters. Radnorshire, where the 
road, traced upon heights impendent over 
the Wye, commands one of the most beau- 
tifully romantic vallies in the principality. 
The river, which we have before seen ma- 
jestically flowing, rapid but unopposed, 
among flowery lawns, here, approaching, 
its native source in the bosom of Plinlimmon,, 
appears eddying, foaming, and roaring in a 
narrow channel, amid shelving rocks and 
disjointed craigs,. a, mere mountain torrent.. 
With the accompaniments of towering pre- 
cipices, naked rocks, and impendent cliffs* 
finely softened by overhanging branchy trees, 
or partially concealed by deep shadowy 
Woods, and frequently enlivened by a stripe 

of 



CHAP. XXII. THE WYE. 339 

of verdant meadow, the river presents a suc- 
cession of picturesque morgeaus, the most 
striking imaginable ; and fully compensates 
the bad state of the road in this part. A 
considerable range of prospect also presents 
itself on the right, from some favoured emi- 
nences, where a long series of moorish lumpy 
hills extend over the greater part of Radnor- 
shire, which shews but an indifferent mixture 
of cultivation with numerous heaths and 
forests. 

An extensive mountainous dreary region, 

" Where woods, and wilds, and thorny ways appear," 

occupies part of the counties of Brecon, 
Cardigan, and Radnor, westward of the 
Wye. Among these deep solitudes, Camdeii 
informs us, king Vortigern sought a refuge 
from the persecutions that his crimes and 
follies raised against him, His ultimate fate 
is wrapped in uncertainty ; but his vileness 
needed not a more agonizing torture than his 
wounded conscience, whether recurring to 
his incestuous intercourse with his own off- 
spring, or to his miserable policy in resting 
the defence of Britain upon the assistance of 
foreign troops. 

z 2 Rhayder- 



340 RHAYDER-GOWY. CHAP. XXII* 

Rhayder-gowy, wildly situated at the 
foot of the mountainous barrier between 
South and North Wales, consists of two 
streets of neatly whitened houses, and is 
graced with the vicinity of two churches. A 
castle a!so added to the consequence of the 
town in the time of the Welch princes ; but 
none of its remains now appear, except a 
deep trench cut in the rock of the town, and 
three or four barrows, which are, no doubt, 
connected with its history. The market- 
house is a neat little building, though of rough 
stones; and the Red Lion inn is no less re- 
markable for its neatness and accommodation, 
Useful though unimposing, than for the 
obliging assiduities of its landlord. 

The scenery of the Wye, close to this 
town, acquires an uncommon degree of 
grandeur. Raging in its rocky bed, the 
river is seen through the light foliage of im- 
pendent trees, and almost beneath a bold 
arch which bestrides the river, bounding over 
a ledge of rock in a fall of some depth ; 
whence it tears its way among protruding 
craigs in a sheet of glistening foam, but is 
almost immediately concealed by the em- 
bowering ornaments of its bank?, 

> Above 



CHAP. XXII. RHAYDER-GOWY. 34«1 

Above the town of Rhayder, a bold hilly 
region, overspread with treacherous bogs, or 
broken into precipices of fearful depth, mixes 
with the magnificent forms of the North 
Wales mountains, Here nature wears her 
wildest garb ; no stripe of cultivation con- 
trols the dreary majesty of the scene ; the 
mountain sheep browse on the dizzy heights 
unmindful of danger ; the hardy ponies 
here sport away their early years, uncon- 
scious of restraint \ and, no less free, the 
bold mountaineer looks round his stormy 
world, nor hapless mourns 'the gaj^er spheres 
below : 

*' But calm, an 1 bred in ignorance and toil, 
" Each wish contracting, fits him to the soil. 
i( Cheerful at morn, he wakes from short repose, 
" Breathes the keen air, and carols as he goes 5 
'' At night returning, every labour sped, 
l< He sits him down the monarch of a shed ; 
■•' Smiles by his cheerful lire, and round surveys 
" His children's looks, that brighten at the blaze 3 
" While his lov'd partner, boastful of her hoards 
({ Displays her cleanly platter on the board :" 

" Such are the charms to barren states assign'd, 
i' Their wants but few, their wishes all confin'd/' 

This district is, however, rich in mineral 

treasure; and several lead-mines, and one or 

z 3 two 



342 ABBEY CWM HIR. CHAP. XXII. 

two copper-mines, are worked with conside- 
rable spirit. 

Here my observations upon South-Wales 
draw to a close : they have been very brief 
upon Radnorshire; and yet the excursion on 
the banks of the Wye describes almost its 
only attraction. Indeed, this county is re-? 
markably barren in subjects of picturesque 
beauty, memorials of antique grandeur, and 
remarkable towns and villas. I find but one 
religious house in this shire described in 
Dugdale's Monasticon, or Tanner's Notitia 
Monastica, which is Abbey Cwm Hir, situ- 
ated about six miles east of Rhayder ; but I 
understand that no part of the building re- 
mains. It was founded for Cistercian monks 
by Cadwathelan ap Madoc in the year 
1143 7 and must have been a very incon- 
siderable foundation, as its revenues at the 
suppression of monasteries were only valued at 

The castles that occur in this county are 
neither remarkable in their history nor ve- 
nerable in decay. Yet frequent and memo- 
rable are the earthen works that characterize 
almost every hill in the county, which 

either 



CHAP. XHlI. CARACTACT/S. 343 

either wear the* marks of cairns * or ancient 
encampments. . •> . • ... 

fS 'Twas on these downs, by "Roman hosts annoy'd, 
" Fought our bold fathers, rustic, unrefm'd ! 

<( Freedoms fair sons, in martial cares emplo.y'd, 

fc They ting'd :h: ? r 'bodies but unmask'd their mind." 

On a hill near Knighton, at the eastern 
Jimit of the county ^ is still shewn the Camp 
of Caractacus ; and an encampment on 
another hill separated from tlie first by a deep 
valley, is said to be that of the Roman ge- 
neral Ostorius. The Britons waited the at- 
tack of the enemy's legions in their advan- 
tageous position, and fought like men who 
valued life no longer than as it was connected 
with freedom ; but their courage availed no- 
thing before the skill and discipline of the 
Roman army ; after an immense slaughter 
they gave way, and Caractacus^ wife, daugh- 
ter, and brothers* w T ere taken prisoners. The 
king escaped, but was soon after betrayed 

* Cairns, or barrows, in the druidical ages, were large 
heaps of stones raised over the bodies of deceased heroes. 
After the introduction of Christianity, similar piles were 
placed on malefactors, to give a sort of counteraction to the 
old custom j and it soon became the bitterest wish a man 
could give his enemy, " that a cairn might be his monu- 
ment." • . ,- • : 

z 4 into 



344 PRESTEIGN, CHAP. XOCII* 

into the bands of his enemies. His noble 
speech and deportment when brought before 
the Roman emperor, as transmitted to us by 
the pen of Tacitus, must ever excite admh 
ration, and evince the immutable dignity 
of manly virtue, however bereft of the 
factitious splendour of power. 

OFFA y s Dyke also passes near Knighton ; 
the boundary established by Offa king of the 
Mercians between his dominions and Wales, 
after a decisive victory over the Britons. It 
formerly extended from the Dee to the 
mouth of the Wye; and it was enacted, that 
any Welch man found in arms on the English 
side of the boundary should have his right 
hand cut off. Knighton itself I find de- 
scribed to be an ordinary town, built on a 
steep bank of the Teme. Seven miles south- 
ward of it is Presteign, a better built and 
paved town than the former, and graced 
with a beautiful little eminence (the site of its 
castle), laid out in public walks. This town 
is considered as the modern capital of the 
county : in it are held the assizes ; and,, 
having the jail, it is farther distinguished with 
all the apprehended rogues in Radnorshire. 
Old Radnor, three or four miles farther 

sputhward, 



CHAP-. XXII. I*LANDRINDOD WELLS. §45 

southward, Camden supposes to have been 
the Magoth of Antoninus, garrisoned by the 
Paciensian regiment in the reign of Theodo-? 
sius the younger : but, whatever it may have 
been formerly, it now appears an insignificant 
village. New Radnor, though nominally 
the capita! of the shire, is little better ; yet a 
few vestiges of an encompassing wall and a 
castle give it more unequivocal marks of for- 
mer importance than the parent town. Its 
oiciine is dated from the rebellion of Gwetj 
Glendower, who destroyed the castle and 
Ravaged all the surrounding district. In a 
rocky glen, in the vicinity of this town, is a 
fine cascade, though of inconsiderable vo- 
lume, called Water breaks its Neck, 

Crossing Radnor forest, an extensive tract 
of sheep down and coppice, about twelve 
miles from New Radnor, and seven from 
Bualr, is Llandrindod Wells. This 
place, consisting only of one house of public 
entertainment and a few cottages, appears tc 
be just!} 7 distinguished for the efficacy of its 
springs^ which are chalybeate, sulphureous, 
and cathartic. But though the medicinal 
virtues of these waters be undoubted, and 
considered even more potent than those of 

Ilarrpwgate ; 



346 LLA-NDRINDOD WELLS. CHAP. XXII. 

Harrowgate ; yet the place, being dreary,- 
remote, and void of elegant accommodation, 
is only visited by a very few real invalids ; 
lione of that gay tribe is here to be met with 
which forms the principal company at wa- 
tering-places in general. 



Having thus executed my design of a ge- 
neral description of South-Wales and Mon- 
mouthshire, I shall return to the narrative of 
my tour. 



CHAP. 



[ 347 ] 



CHAP. XXIII. 



^GOODRICH CASTLE AND PRIORY WILTON 

CASTLE SCENERY OF THE WYE FROM 

ROSS TO MONMOUTH ROSS GLOU- 
CESTER. 

We took our farewel leave of Monmouth 
on a hazy morning, that concealed the sur- 
rounding scenery in the earliest part of our 
ride to Gloucester. But the mist gradually 
withdrawing allowed us a gleam of the ma- 
jestic Wye, about two miles from Mon- 
mouth ; which, soon deserting the course of 
the road, winds beneath the bare rocky cliffs of 
the little Doward, and becomes lost among 
high w r ooded hills. Near the seven-miles 
stone from Monmouth we struck off the 
turnpike into an embowered lane in search 
of Goodrich Castle, a very picturesque 
ruin, which rises among tufted trees on a 

bold 



iM8 GOODRICH CASTLE. CHAP. XXIII. 

bold eminence above the Wye. The view 
of the castellated hill, combined with a grand 
fertile valley, which extends for many miles 
in a richly-variegated undulation, enlivened 
with the elegant though simple spire of Ross 
church, and with peculiar graces, watered 
by the copious river, was uncommonly 
striking : while to the right we caught a 
glimpse of the grand features about Symonds^ 
gate and the Caldwell rocks, backed by a range 
of heathy hills that forms the boundary of 
the forest of Dean. 

The remains of this castle shew it to have 
been, of considerable strength, though not 
very extensive. Its figure is nearly square, 
measuring fifty-rtwo yards by forty- eight, with 
a large round tower at each angle. A deep 
trench, twenty yards wide, is cut in the 
rock round the walls, leaving a narrow ridge 
which crosses the moat to the grand entrance. 
On entering .the gateway, a small apartment 
to the left, with an ornamented Gothic win-? 
dow, and a stone chalice for holding holy- 
water, appears to have been the chapel ; 
or, considering its small eke, rather an ora-. 
tory. A curious octagon column rising from 
a mass of nuns opposite has belonged to a 

' principal 



C5JAP. XXIII. GOODRICH CASTLE. §4$ 

principal apartment, and most probably the 
baronial hall. A large square tower was the 
keep, which is said to have been built by an 
Irish chieftain named Mackbeth, as a ran- 
som for himself and his son, who were held 
prisoners in the castle ; and until lately two 
ponderous helmets were shewn as belonging 
to them, one of which held half a bushel. 

There is no doubt but that this was a 
frontier post held by the Saxons ; and many 
parts of the ruin still bear a Saxon or early 
Norman character *. During the reign of 
king John, and in several succeeding ages, 
it was in the hands of the earls of Pembroke, 
but afterwards deviated from that line. In 
Jacob's Peerage, under the article of the earls 
of Shrewsbury, it is related, that the Hugh 
le Despencers forcibly seized Elizabeth Co- 
myns at Kennington in Surry, and detained 
her in confinement above a year ; concealing 
her in their different castles, until she was, 
by menaces of death, constrained to pass 
" her manor of Painswick in the county of 
Gloucester to the said earl, the elder Dc- 

* In Dugdales Mon&sticon, the signature Godricus Diixi 

occurs twice among the witnesses to two charters granted by 
king Canute. 

spencer, 



350 GOODRICH PRIORY. CHAP. XXIII, 

spencer, and the castle of Goodrich to Hugh 
the younger ; to them and their heirs." — 
Thus it was in feudal ages, when every po- 
tent baron dared violate the strongest bands 
of society ; when the property and freedom 
of humble individuals, and the honour of 
females, were subjected to the will of con- 
tiguous power; and suffering innocence 
could only plead the wrongs that she suffered 
at the tribunal of the oppressor. But, alas ! it 
is a principle of our being, it is a fact which 
ought to be treasured in the minds of Britons, 
that where power is without controul it sel- 
dom fails to act unjustly. 

In the civil wars of Charles the First this 
castle was in the hands of both parties suc- 
cessively ; and upon the parliamentary cause 
proving triumphant, it was ordered to be dis- 
mantled : but a sufficient compensation was 
allowed to the countess of Kent, to whom it 
belonged. The farm-house appertaining t® 
the meadows and corn-fields about the castle 
is situated a few hundred yards from the 
castle, to the right, and occupies the site of 
Goodrich Priory: the chapel, converted 
into a barn, and some other Gothic remains, 
are still visible. 

In 



CHAP. XXIII. WILTON CASTLE. 3d! 

In our way from Goodrich to Ross, for 
the first two miles traced in a bridle road 
that might with equal propriety be called 
a ditch, we had frequent views of the proud 
ruin towering above its incircling groves ; 
which, variously combining with the sur- 
rounding landscape at each succeeding station, 
proved a new and delightful object. We 
crossed the Wye at Wilton bridge ; a short 
distance above which, on the low western 
bank of the river, appear the mouldering 
towers of Wilton Castle, a Norman struc- 
ture, once the baronial residence of the 
Greys. Several pleasure-boats with awnings* 
handsomely fitted up for the reception of 
company that would navigate the Wye, are 
moored by the bridge *. 

I earnestly advise every traveller of taste 
and leisure, proceeding by the way of Ross 
to Monmouth, not to neglect the beautiful 
scenery of this river: he may take one of 
the boats ; or, if he prefer riding or walking, 

* The distance from Ross to Chepstow, in a straight line, 
is not more than sixteen miles and a half; but owing to the 
sinuosity of the river the voyage by water is near thirty-eight 
miles. The boats descend with the current, and are towed 
ail the way back by men : this laborious task may account for 
the expensive hire of a boat, which I understand to be three 
guineas. 

he 



352 THE WYE. CI:a?. XXtll* 

lie may enjoy its principal charms by re- 
versing my journey from Goodrich ; whence 
crossing Hensham ferry, he will proceed 
among pleasant meadows on the margin of 
the stream in front of the sublime grandeur 
of the Caldwell rocks ; then ascending the 
isthmus of an immense peninsulated rock 
called Symond's gate, at the height of 2000 
feet above the surface of the river, he will 
enjoy a superlative prospect of its mazy ex- 
tent and the grand scenery around. From 
the vicinity of Goodrich the Wye urges its 
course through a narrow valley inclosed by 
towering woody mountains, or struggles in 
more limited confines, where protruding 
rocks plunge their naked perpendicular sides 
into the body of the stream. Descending 
from the lofty neck of the peninsula, which 
is but six hundred yards across in a direct 
line, although the circuit of the river round 
the rock is upwards of four miles, lie will 
fux! himself in a deep valley of astonishing 
grandeur, formed on one side by the ith 
inantic precipices of the peninsula, and on 
the other by the great Doward, a huge stra- 
tified limestone mountain, studded with lime- 
kilns and cottages. At the Kew-wier he 
5 will 



CHAP. XXIII. ROSS. 353 

will re-cross the river, and soon join the turn- 
pike to Monmouth. 

The old town of Ross, situated on a gently- 
inclining bank of the Wye near Wilton 
bridge, afforded us no subject of admiration 
or interest, except in the recollection which 
it excited of Mr. John Kyrle, whose public 
spirit and philanthropy inspired the verses of 
Pope. We baited our horses at an inn which 
was formerly his house, and now bears the 
sign of " The Man of Ross." The views 
from the cemetery of Ross church are among 
the most beautiful that imagination can pic- 
ture, looking over a lovely vale, adorned 
with the majestic meanders of the Wye, en- 
riched with numerous groves and woods, and 
finished by a distance of Welch mountains : 
to detail its several charming features would 
be as tedious, as it would prove a vain attempt 
to realize a just idea of the landscape. 

We now traversed a well-cultivated district, 
whose numerous though gentle hills were 
frequently clothed with apple-orchards, and 
in about six miles ride, upon a wretched 
road, gained a heathy eminence, when the 
great plain of Gloucester appeared before us, 
stretching to an immense distance in every 
a A direction. 



35* GLOUCESTER. CHAP. XXIW, 

direction. At the extremity of the plain, at 
least in appearance, rose the towers and spires 
of Gloucester, faintly relieving from the 
Cotteswold hills, whose high continuous sum- 
mits were strongly contrasted by the broken 
form of the Malvern hills afar off on the 
left. 

The Severn, near Gloucester, separates 
into two channels; which, soon re-uniting, 
inclose a tract of land called the Isle of 
Alney ; so that we approached the city over 
two bridges connected together by a high 
causeway near a mile in length, which tra- 
verses the islet. An assemblage of ships, 
houses, and numerous spires, greeted us with 
a look of more public importance than we 
had been used to for several weeks, as we 
drew near the city. It would require a vo- 
lume to give an adequate description of this 
place : all that my limits will allow me to say 
is, that it is one of the fairest cities in England, 
regularly composed of four principal wide 
well-built streets, meeting at right angles in 
the middle of the . town ; abounding with 
Gothic churches and other public structures, 
and a new-built gaol, which is .one of the 
best in the kingdom. But its chief orna- 
ment 



CH-AP. XXIII. GLOUCESTER. 355 

merit is its truly grand cathedral, remarkable 
for its elegant tower, surmounted with four 
transparent pUmacles of the most exquisite 
workmanship, and for having the largest 
Gothic window in Britain : nor is it less to be 
noticed for the curious ramifications and 
transomes of its fretted roof, and the high 
state of enrichment throughout the struc- 
ture *. AVe ascended to the summit of the 
tower, where 

f< The bursting prospect spreads immense around : 
<f And, snatch" d o'er hill and dale, and wood and lawn, 
" And verdant fields, and dark ning heath between, 
" And villages embosom'd soft in trees, 
(c And spiry towns by surging column's mark'd 
c< Of household make, your eye excursive roams 
/' To where the broken landscape, by degrees 
l( Ascending, roughens into rigiif hills 5 
" O'er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds 
" That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise.'.' 

A tributary sigh escaped as we caught the 
last gleam of our much-loved principality ; 

* We did not neglect to visit the remains of Lanthony 
Abbey near Gloucester, the successful rival of the foundation 
in Monmouthshire. The rains are situated about a mile 
southward of the town : they are by no means picturesque, 
consisting of a series of buildings which surround a .large 
square area ; the dilapidated walls of the chapel are standing 
without encumbrance j but the other parts are made' up into 
farming habitations,, with numerous out-houses and sheds. 

a a 2 nor 



356 WELCH CHARACTER. CHAP. XXIII* 

nor can I conclude my subject without trans* 
mitting that view of the Welch individual 
character and state of society (particularly al- 
luding to the southern district), which im- 
pressed me during my tour, and which I 
have since believed to be just. 

Wales may be considered as exhibiting al- 
most the sole remnant of " the good old: 
tii®3es*f existing in Britain. Separated from 
those causes of extrinsic splendour which do- 
mineer over other parts of our island, the 
opulent landholders freely dispense the 
wealth of their inheritance with unosten- 
tatious liberality. Indifferent to outward 
shew, their first cares evince a parental re* 
gard to the poor on their domains, and the 
maintenance of their forefathers* good cheer. 
An interchange of good offices is alike con- 
spicuous between them and the commonalty; 
and it is no less pleasing to see the friendly soli- 
citude of the one, than the unaffected re- 
spect and attachment of the other. 

The Welch arc justly described to be the 
most robust and hardy inhabitants of this 
kingdom ; for, un enervated by those seden- 
tary employments foisted on less happy re- 
gions 



CHAP. XXIII. WELCH CHARACTER.' 357 

gions by luxury and avaricious policy, they 
boast the vigorous frames of aboriginal Brn 
tons. Although not generally tall, they pos« 
sess a more unequivocal criterion of strength* 
in a fine breadth of chest ; and hence it has 
been remarked, that a Cambrian regiment 
drawn up in line covers more ground than 
any other. By healthful toil and simplicity 
of diet invigorated, they are at once potent^ 
courageous, animated > and generous. 

It has been asserted* that the Welch arc 
averse from strangers ; — but by whom ? By 
those who have provoked that aversion ; who, 
carrying with them a vulgar estimation of 
superior show at the tables of England, have 
not known how to approve a regular board 
of hospitality, when contrasted by the splen- 
did profusion of fashionable entertainments ; 
who, representing the more gay appoint- 
ments of other resorts, have pitied the Welch- 
man's old-fashioned furniture, and wondered 
how any gentlemanly being could exist in 
his gloomy Gothic habitation. Such as can 
conceive no other travelling enjoyments than 
superior inns, sumptuous dinners, and bowl- 
ing-green roads, may quarrel with our prin- 
cipality* 



358 WELCH CHARACTER. CHAP. XXlfl. 

cipality. But it is for those who travel with 
more enlarged views, and proper intro- 
ductions, to declare the ingenuous welcome' 
that they have experienced : the eager so- 
licitude that was every where manifested 
to afford them information ; and the liberal 
fare set before tlrem, which not even the 
greatly-increased' expence of family esta- 
blishments could effectually suppress. 

As every virtue has its concomitant shade/ 
we have to lament that the Welchman's ar- 
dent spirit sometimes inclines him to be 
quarrelsome; yet v as there' is generosity at 
the . bottom, his passion seldom becomes 
vindictive. ' M disposition for social enjoy- 
ment has led him from conviviality to "h a b its 
of 'Intemperance ; and an improvident hos- 
pitality, to the ruin of his; family's fortune. 
J\ta error more harmless in its operation 
arises from his. admiration of illustrious an- 
cestry ; which often resolves itself into ail 
association of personal importance, that un- 
biassed individuals are not inclined to allow. 
These asperities are wearing away, under 
the attrition- of a more extended and en- 
lightened intercourse. But it is. the heartfelt 

wish 



CHAP. XXIII. WELCH CHARACTER. 359 

wish of an earnest admirer of their present 
state of society, equal to every essential duty 
of a manly people, that the chilling apathy 
of morbid refinement may never paralize 
their spirit of independence, that spring 
of energetic action which forms the noblest 
attribute of Man. 



THE END. 






NiCHOtS WSoNf, Trinfeti, 
Red~Uon-PaJ[age, Eut+Sttetf. 








J 






P«^ 



O0 X 



%%* - 






^ v* 














/ . 



















'++ v 


















v>% 









.A 



.** 











